Normality
by StarsOfYaoi
Summary: *currently on HIATUS* *SasuNaru, others* After The Rescue 5 take Sasuke back to Konoha, Naruto realizes he can't face the Uchiha anymore, and decides to do the unthinkable... leave Team7. *Chp 6 up!*
1. Changes

**StarsOfYaoi:** this is the prologue for a SasuNaru fic, only to see if someone likes this plot; I hope people will read and enjoy. Beware it will have heavy angst later on.

**Note:** the fic is Naruto–centric mostly.

_Takes place after Sasuke and Naruto's fight in the Valley of End. Sasuke was rescued in this fic. So, this is an AT (Alternate Timeline)._

……………………………………………

**Rating**: T

**Summary:** (SasuNaru, NejiShika, eventually others) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncover and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.

**Warnings:** yaoi, boy x boy relationship, **_angsty_**, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.

**Disclaimer**: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

……………………………………………

**Normality**

**Prologue: Changes**

No one spoke in the room as Tsunade finished her speech.

It wasn't necessary to say something, the faces of the five teens were already telling both her and Jiraiya what they were thinking about the shocking news.

The Godaime Hokage and the Pervert Sannin stared at the faces of the five ninja in front of them seriously, for once neither willing to ruin the solemn aura, taking in their appearances. They looked so young, too young, as if they didn't belong here but in a playground, smiling and running around, clueless. But their painful thoughts were useless now; it must have been because the two of them were old, and reacted as if they were staring at children instead of young adults.

Shinobi were trained from a young age to be skilled and emotionless, and Tsunade and Jiraiya both knew it; even thought they didn't approve it, they had been through the same and were now fiercely reminded by the young teens sitting there, shocked.

They had it even harder, in some way. Because they grew up in a war time, when not even living was taken for granted. When no one was sure if there would be a next day. Forced to mature when they should have been learning how to live.

So it was stupid, how they stared at the five boys in front of them, wondering where their childhood had gone. They were shinobi. They were bound to be like this.

And still…

No one of them looked like a teen to her as Tsunade sighed, shifting the weight of her head to her hands, elbows placed on the table. Though, their eyes told her otherwise.

At her right, a blond boy that had never taken anything by granted; he'd fought for everything he had, to prevent others from taking his security away.

He had watched as everyone turned their backs on him, watched as he lost everything he gained, lost in the little game adults played to shun him out. All of this because of things he couldn't control, be it a seal placed on him at his birth or a friend's lust for power.

Naruto was no child. Not in his mind anyway, and it was clear seeing the cheerful act he put up every single day. Something that could help him accept and stand the pain he received.

Next was what to an inexperienced person's stare could have appeared as an overweight teen, but that indeed had faced a hard decision concerning his life and death and had chosen the harder way to achieve a victory that would have helped his team.

Chouji too had his problems, hidden under an uncaring exteriority so not to be hurt.

The third was one people labelled as lazy and grumpy, caught in the need to keep up with a family reputation he didn't agree on, with an intelligence that helped him develop battle strategies for a group of inexperienced ninja as if they were elite jounin, and that could help him out of any difficult situation.

His eyes too, were the ones of someone too old to be twelve. Shikamaru could drop his laziness anytime for those he cared for, because he knew things no boy should know.

Then there was the heir of the Inuzuka family. Hiding under a harsh arrogance his insecurities, because being a ninja meant to show power and determination… and any mishap could be punished hard if the mission was not accomplished. And despite his loudness, he would still work in a group treating anyone like a pack member, trusting and caring and protecting.

Kiba knew better than act around his duties.

Last of them was a pale teen with long dark hair, whose blank white eyes were fixed on her with a hollow stare. Older than the other four, he held such a coldness in his stance and soul that only Naruto had been able to warm him up enough to show his real self inside, deep hidden among the abuse he went through all his life –until he could not even think about life without saying that Fate was the one ruling it all.

Neji had suffered equally, and still was standing.

They were _all_ still standing.

And Tsunade felt like it would have been easier if they didn't, if only for her to not see their eyes. Hollow, and yet, still sparkling with life and even hope. Because they were young. The young could still dream.

No matter what, they still hoped. And wished. And lived on, because there was so much to fight for.

And that was enough… at least for now.

"Are you… kidding?" Naruto was the first to come out of his shock, and to the surprise of everyone else, he was not yelling… instead his voice was so low it was barely a whisper. It was like he was trying not to break the silence, as if he was afraid it would shatter and reveal to him it was just a dream.

Tsunade shook her head and smiled warmly at them, a forceful and strained smile, buta true one. "What you accomplished is a great feat, you fought with ninja that were at the Chuunin level, maybe even higher, and you all won… I think you all deserve this".

Jiraiya nodded, for once not looking a stupid but actually serious. He was proud of them, really proud. Despite his previous thoughts, his distrust, his scepticism, he was happy he had been wrong.

"I agree with Tsunade, you all deserve this," he smiled.

Naruto blinked, his eyes flashing with something akin to fear.

Two weeks had passed ever since their return from the mission that changed them, and now they were healed enough to be able to stand in Tsunade's office, many of them still wearing the signs of the wounds they had been healed from.

When the Hokage had called them all in her office, the blond had known something was going to happen, but this was the last thing he would have expected.

"From now on, you will be considered Chuunin" Tsunade said, her tone one of finality. "And Shikamaru, since you were already one, you will be given a special mention. You are dismissed now".

Naruto blinked again.

A Chuunin.

Tsunade had promoted him… all of them… _Chuunin_.

He stood up in a flash and ran away. He felt like he wanted to cry.

……………………………………………

The village was silent as he stared down from the Hokage mountain, eyes lost as they traced every street, every passage, knowing all of them, feeling oddly comforted by the fact that he could remember them anytime with no strain.

After exiting the Hokage's office, Naruto was so confused and shocked he didn't even know where he was going. He just ran, fast. He was in a dazed state, and when his swimming thoughts returned to the surface and he realized where he was, he found himself on top of the mountain, standing on Sandaime's head.

This had always been his favourite spot, usually changing from one Hokage's head to the other, able to look from up above at the life that continued below, as if admiring the fact that he wasn't there, with all the rest of the world, but in a secret place, higher, watching.

This time it was different. This time, he had no relief in seeing everything go on like usual, he felt no odd sense of happiness in seeing how everything looked so normal. Naruto stared down with frantic eyes as life continued normally for the villagers, feeling somewhat left out. He felt as if no one understood the danger they had been into.

He felt as if he wasn't grasping on reality at all.

Now that he was sitting there, feeling the breeze curl around him, the sun warming the back of his head almost comfortably, and his wounds had healed, he felt as if he knew nothing of this village anymore. It all looked so false, so… vain.

It looked as if he'd been away for years, instead of hours.

Everything was out of focus for him, when his mind was still back to the fight. Two weeks since that day, the day in which he'd seen his hopes and beliefs shatter in front of him by the sole person that had meant really something to him… and now that he was out of the hospital, as well as the other four of the rescue team, this had been his first visit to the Hokage mountain.

His friends were fine.

Their wounds had healed.

But for Naruto, something didn't heal completely, if any at all.

The deepest wound couldn't be repaired, the one in his soul; because after everything, he still remembered the spirited eyes of Sasuke as he stabbed the Chidori in his chest. Aiming for his heart.

He'd fought against his best friend that had wanted him to die. He had let Kyuubi take control of his body. He had felt like he _wanted_ to die.

Nothing could be the same ever again.

And now he stood there, staring at the village he had sworn to protect, and it felt wrong. It was too normal. It was as if nothing had changed, as if nothing… nothing had happened.

He felt like he could never go back to what he was before. Not now.

And the news that now he was a Chuunin… he felt a step closer to his dream of becoming Hokage, but at the same time he felt he didn't deserve it.

He didn't want to be a Chuunin this way. He had done nothing to deserve it.

Nothing at all.

Naruto sighed and thought about who was now resting in the hospital… the one that was responsible for his friends' almost death and the pain he felt. The one that, despite everything, he'd taken back.

Sasuke.

The Uchiha had been healing slower than the rest. His wounds had been even worse than Neji's, even if not deathly, so it would take longer for him to heal –Tsunade had commented that his cursed seal had been slowing down the process too.

And he was guarded by ANBU, because they did not trust him anymore.

Naruto felt his heart clench.

He'd trusted the Uchiha with everything he had. He had thought Sasuke to be almost a brother to him, someone he could trust, someone that cared, even with his insults. It felt good.

He had felt warm.

And now, everything shattered down. Sasuke had renounced to his life, his friends, his _everything_ in order to succeed with his revenge.

The sole thought of having to see him and even having to stay in the same team with him made Naruto feel empty inside. He couldn't… he simply couldn't make himself meet with the Uchiha.

Not anymore.

He didn't want to look into those black orbs and know he'd tried to kill him to progress further in his lust for power.

He had been weak. He hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from leaving, and even thought Tsunade had told him about the seal, he could not meet with him again. he didn't feel ready.

The cursed seal Orochimaru had placed on Sasuke's neck, just like the one Anko had, had been poisoning his mind, pulling him further into darkness, making his anger stronger, his thirst for revenge even more bitter and painful.

It had been its fault if he'd tried to leave in the first place, and it had been its fault if Sasuke had tried to kill Naruto.

But still, the blond felt it was _his own_ fault. He should have tried to help Sasuke. He should have tried to understand him more, to take him away from Orochimaru's clutches.

And now, he felt he would die if he were to meet with Sasuke. He could not look in his friend's eyes to see the hatred, or even the pity, or the disgust, or any other emotion Sasuke could be feeling.

And, even though Naruto was trying hard to deny it, he felt angry and betrayed too. Sasuke had thought he was important enough to be his best friend, but then, he'd tried to kill him because of that.

The seal was to blame, but the seal only amplified what Sasuke had inside. His desire for revenge was the only thing that mattered for him.

He felt he could not stare into the crimson eyes without thinking back to it all. The anger and the guilt would never disappear, as long as he was around him.

And he could not even think about seeing Sakura, either. She had been worrying over Sasuke ever since they were back, but apart a grateful thanks, Sakura had never visited him, nor his other friends.

Naruto knew it was not her fault, because she was in love with Sasuke, and he had accepted that, plus he was used to be rejected by people. It was nothing new, so he didn't feel bad for it, instead he understood what she was going through.

And even though he had brought Sasuke back, keeping his promise to her, he felt like he'd failed as a friend, to both.

That's why he too never visited any of them. He knew Sasuke would never be let out of surveillance, at least not in the first period, when they were trying to remove or at least control the seal he had. ANBU would be watching him, and Naruto was also sure they would never let the Kyuubi holder in to see the traitor.

He was a demon. Sasuke was a traitor. To the village elders, to have them meet in such a situation, even though he had been the one to take Sasuke back, would mean fuel rebellious instincts.

And for how stupid this sounded to Naruto, he could understand.

He didn't visit Sakura either. She'd been allowed to see Sasuke, because she was training under Tsunade as a medic–nin to be stronger, and besides, she wasn't a threat to the village. Naruto could see both his friends step further away from him, out of his reach, where he could not follow them, and they could not follow him.

Their lives were being drawn apart slowly, because of something they could not control… and yet for how painful that thought was for Naruto, he understood this was the better thing to do. He had to let go of them, and they would realize this soon enough, and let go of him as well.

'_I can't face them. I know it's cowardly, I know it's a weakness… but I can't. I've been hurt, they have been hurt. We can't stay together anymore, for the sake of us all,'_ he thought, his heart clenching painfully in his chest.

He would hurt them more, and they would as well. Sasuke would surely be angry for having his chance at revenge negated by someone he thought as a friend, and Sakura despised Naruto even though he'd taken her precious Sasuke back.

It was a vicious circle, of hurt and betrayal. If one of them didn't break it, it would never end.

Blue eyes opened again, he didn't even realize he'd closed them, and stared again below his feet.

He knew what he needed to do. He had to speak with Tsunade, again.

……………………………………………

Kakashi stared down at the blond, showing nothing of what he was feeling inside, but Naruto could still recognize his uneasiness.

It was clear, for someone that had known Kakashi for this long –Naruto knew for how much he denied it, Kakashi had let them close more than anyone else in a long time.

The visible eye was filled with something Naruto couldn't really put a name on, but that felt so familiar to him it was almost painful. His fingers were clenching on the orange book so much the knuckles were white, and Naruto could see the muscles were tense and his arms rigid.

He'd never seen Kakashi this troubled, not in the time he'd known him, he was almost fidgeting.

The blond would have been amused, if he weren't trying to hold back his own sadness. Ok, he didn't want to see Sasuke and Sakura anymore, knowing it would be better for all the team if they were to be kept separated –after all, Naruto would not drown in depression seeing everyday his failure as a friend, and they would not be drained down with him.

They would surely be better off without him, not having to care anymore for him… and he the same.

It could seem cold, but Naruto despite the pain inside him knew he was doing the right thing. Moving on was the best thing for the three of them.

He had to fight hard against his heart yelling at him he was lying to himself.

"So… that is it," Naruto stared hard at the ground at his feet, not able to look at his sensei's face.

Kakashi felt a tug in his chest. This was not like it was supposed to be. Everything was crumbling into nothingness and he had at least to show he cared. Because up to now his pathetic attempt to look carefree and stoic had only hurt his team –the first he'd passed.

They were supposed to be the thing he cared for the most.

They were supposed to be his family.

And he had not been able to protect them and prevent their downfall.

"Naruto, it's not like we won't see each other again," Kakashi forced a smile, even though the younger shinobi could not see it. "We will see each other in the village, I will visit you and I expect you to visit me as well, and… maybe you will be teamed up with me in a mission".

Tsunade had accepted Naruto's request. Usually, it had been like this since forever, a three–cell team would stay together even if one or more members turned of a higher rank –that only meant the higher rank would have solo missions as well, or be put in other teams for some time– but sometimes, things would change.

This was one of those times.

Naruto had asked to be taken away of team seven, and he'd been granted his request. He knew he had to face Kakashi and say goodbye, but he hadn't expected it to be this awkward. He'd realized only now he cared for his sensei just as much as he cared for Iruka or Tsunade.

For a moment, he had the sinking feeling he was doing something wrong, but he pushed the feeling down, determined he was doing the best thing for everyone.

The blond teen found the courage to look up, and was relieved to see Kakashi was not angry at him. Despite his sensei didn't pay him the attention he'd wished for, he still respected Kakashi, and admired him.

Kakashi was startled when Naruto pulled him into a sudden hug, and was too shocked to even shove him away. He was not comfortable with this much contact with another person –a contact that wasn't meant to kill or harm– and he fidgeted until Naruto pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi–sensei… but I am happy you are not angry at me since I…" _'since I gave up on the team'_ he silently added.

Kakashi knew Naruto's unspoken words and frowned. Naruto had been strong, stronger than he would have believed him to be, and he wasn't giving up. Kakashi had long since realized his foolishness regarding the blond teen.

Naruto had been in need of a person to guide him, explaining and teaching him, someone that could see behind his appearance as the village's fool, someone that could help him. Kakashi had failed as a teacher in this, preferring to him the Uchiha prodigy… that had instead revealed to be nothing but an avenger.

Sasuke had needed just as much attention as Naruto had, in another way, but the silver haired jounin knew he shouldn't have preferred one student over another.

And now Naruto was happy because Kakashi was not angry with him… Kakashi felt bad. He knew it should have been Naruto the one furious, not the other way around.

"I am sorry, Naruto" he said, his voice steady and serious. "I failed you as a teacher… because I preferred the Uchiha prodigy over my other students".

"No! Kakashi–sensei, you're wrong!" Naruto shook his head and widened his eyes. "I can't lie and say I wasn't angry at you for favouring Sasuke over me, but I know why you did. He is a genius, someone who has great potential… I was, and still am, nothing".

Kakashi's eyes grew cold hearing such words being spoken so carelessly, as if the blond really believed that. Naruto felt worthless, even after everything he pulled through…

"Naruto, you have a great potential, equal to the one Sasuke has. I was wrong when judging you, and I want you to know that I am proud of what you've become" Kakashi smiled, his visible eye sparkling. "I am sure you will become the best Hokage Konoha has ever had".

The smile he received from the blond made him feel both warm and cold inside. Naruto was thankful for his words, although he really meant what he had said, but Kakashi knew that despite everything they could say, he'd failed as a teacher.

Naruto still looked up at him with respect, and Kakashi had let him down too many times to count.

He only hoped he could remedy his mistakes.

Naruto was a surprising shinobi, and the copy–nin was sure he would keep on surprising them.

"Sasuke has a bloodline and talent… but you, Naruto, have something more" he concluded, ruffling the blond teen's hair. "You work really hard" he scratched his head, his eye smiling, "maa, don't make me repeat this ever again, it would ruin my reputation, ok?"

Naruto smiled broadly.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei…" and he meant it.

……………………………………………

Naruto shifted in bed, feeling the blanket rustle and brush against his skin.

He felt cold.

Turning to his left, he stared silently at the sight outside his window, admiring the night without speaking. He didn't need to put up a cheerful appearance when he was alone, and he could relax.

There were moments the silence was welcomed.

The night was dark over Konoha, the sky of a deep blue that tinged with black, a few stars twinkling in the blanket of darkness, almost as if blinking at him.

There was no moon.

Sighing, Naruto tried to brighten himself up. That morning he would start doing missions with another group of Chuunin, he didn't know yet who, and he was restless.

He couldn't calm himself down, for how much he tried. He wanted to jump out of the bed and run to Sasuke's hospital room, to see him, to confront him, but at the same time he didn't want to see him ever again.

He wasn't one to hold grudges like this, or to admit defeat, this simply wasn't him, but this time it was different. Who cared about what he would or wouldn't do? No one really was inside his mind, no one really knew him.

Not at all.

He only wanted to be recognized, but he ended up being hurt over and over, by the villagers, by the shinobi, even by his own close friends. Deluding himself had only brought more pain, and Naruto for once wanted to be selfish and think about himself.

He wanted to be respected, but he wanted someone that could care for him even more.

He ached for someone that could stare at him and walk at his side, as an equal, a friend, he wanted to be happy. Was that too much to ask for someone like him?

He was running away, but for once, he would not feel bad about it, he would _not allow_ himself to.

The moment the sun would rise up, his new life would start.

Anew… without Sasuke.

……………………………………………

**StarsOfYaoi:** I wanted to try something new.

Short, I know. But it's a prologue. Next chapter will be longer and more explanative, I promise.

Please, leave a review if you want me to continue :) Any comment is appreciated!


	2. Teamed

**Thanks to all the people that reviewed me!**

**StarsOfYaoi:** that's the first chapter! I hope you will like it and please, tell me what you think of it!

I needed a good team for Naruto, but I also needed to have it balanced. You will see who I chose and why. There is also some Sasuke in this chapter!

……………………………………………

**Rating**: T

**Summary:** (SasuNaru, NejiShika, eventually others) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncover and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.

**Warnings:** yaoi, boy x boy relationship, **_angsty_**, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.

**Disclaimer**: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

……………………………………………

**Normality**

**Chapter 01: Teamed**

Naruto frowned as he entered Tsunade's office.

He'd been up since sunrise, almost excited about the new life that was waiting for him from now on, and he couldn't wait to see who he would be paired up with. That would be a fresh new start, a way to forget and start anew, and he wanted to do it well.

He'd wondered if Tsunade would place him in an actual group of Chuunin with a jounin, or if she would just have him in a Chuunin–only team, but he ended up realizing it didn't matter.

He was going to start doing missions, real missions, not D–rank ones, and with a team… a team he would try not to hurt or mess up things with.

The blond bit his lip expectantly, wondering if the new team would treat him fairly or be prejudged about Kyuubi.

Freezing on the spot, he felt his blood turn cold at the prospect of having to share missions with people that hated him for something he could not control; surely Tsunade would be attentive on picking his team members out, but he could not refuse the fact that… if there were not free places, he would have to accept whatever came his way.

No matter what.

He wanted to start again, and he was determined in forgetting everything.

Lifting his hand on the handle of the door, Naruto paused for a second; the corridor was silent, no one was there, not even Shizune, and the quietness pulled something inside him.

He still had a chance to go back… to refuse the promotion, to refuse to be placed in another team… he could still turn and walk away and continue his life with Team Seven.

Naruto's heart clenched painfully; no, there was no turning back. It was just an illusion, because nothing would ever be the same again. He had deluded himself far too much, because after the defection, the rescue, the breaking of their trust, the pain and the hurt, there was no way everything would ever return what it was before.

He had to accept that sometimes the only way to keep going was to change… for how afraid he could be of the outcome, if he were to refuse changes, then his dream to become Hokage would not be true.

He had to be strong and show the village he loved the place, and would die for them.

Naruto took a deep breath and pushed open the door, meeting the sight of a sleeping Tsunade.

Sure, that woman had a lot of work and had to stay up all night to finish it –or at least hope to finish it– but that was not the case; next to her head there were two empty bottles of sake and a cup, and by the light reddish tinge on her cheeks, the blond assumed she'd been drunk.

'_I wonder how could such people have turned into two of the three most powerful people of the shinobi world'_ he muttered to himself, staring at the sleeping woman and mentally adding to the sight a mental image of Jiraiya peeping in an onsen. _'One is a pervert writer, one is a gambler and an alcoholic addict, and the third…'_ he shook his head.

Remembering Orochimaru only served him as a reminder of Sasuke's actions, and he was determined in ignoring it.

"Oi, Tsunade obaa–chan!" he nudged her head. "Wake up!"

No reaction.

'_So much for being a trained ninja,'_ Naruto rolled his eyes.

"**Oi! Obaa–chan!**" he yelled in her ear.

Her eyes opened tiredly, blinking as sleep left her form. The moment her mind registered what the blond had said, she glared in the general direction where she knew he was, and punched him on the head in an Iruka–like fashion.

"Hey! What did I do!" the teen groaned in pain, massaging his head with a pout.

Tsunade stared impassively at him, stretching her back with a few pops, "because you're nothing but a disrespecting _gaki_!"

"Stupid old hag," Naruto muttered under his breath.

But both he and Tsunade knew that there was no animosity between them; the woman was very fond of him, mostly because she could see her brother in Naruto, and it took nothing to her to start considering him like family… Naruto was just Naruto.

She only wanted the best for him.

That's why she had accepted to take him away of Team 7; she'd seen the pain in his eyes, and despite knowing that running away was not the best way to confront what hurt him, she also knew that the betrayal had been too much for such a trusting soul.

He was too similar to Jiraiya in this sense, since even the white haired pervert had been deeply hurt by Orochimaru's defection. Jiraiya too, had run away from the truth, but Sasuke had been taken back to Konoha, whilst Orochimaru had not.

Tsunade had only one real weakness (because she would stop drinking and gambling any time if it was for the welfare of her cared ones), and that was Naruto. She would do anything for him; even help him run until he was ready to face his pain.

And… she could see that he would progress further if kept away from Sasuke. It wasn't anymore rivalry between them. Naruto would need some time, who knows how much, to accept, understand (because his heart would not let him forget completely) and confront Sasuke again.

The outcome, Tsunade could not know, but every battle in that sense, would make both of them grow up. And she knew Sasuke would have to digest his part of the situation as well.

The blond on his part, was glad Tsunade cared for him, since not many had before, and despite the way he called her, the words held nothing but affect. It felt comforting to know he had someone that would protect him…

Tsunade let out a yawn, before straightening up, knowing the time required a clear approach.

"Naruto, I called you here before your meeting with your new team mates because I wanted to make sure… is this what you really want?" her tone was serious, eyes flashing with worry.

Naruto smiled at her. He had long since decided his childishness was out of place in a shinobi world, and wanted to show everyone he was not just a loud blond boy, but that he was indeed a proud shinobi of Konohagakure.

"Yes," he stated equally serious. "I want to grow stronger, and I can't…" _'I can't do it in my old team'_ he inwardly added, falling silent. His last doubt, at least for the present, had vanished in front of this office.

Tsunade understood the unspoken words, and smiled at him, though her smile was holding such sadness it was heart breaking.

She wanted to see Naruto smile, for real, not one of the fake, cheerful smiles that hid his pain; she wanted to see a real smile… but she would never force him. He would smile again, and it would be true and sincere.

"I see," she smiled for him because Tsunade knew he needed reassurance from her. He was doing, if not the right thing, at least the next best choice, and in the future he would choose well. "Then I can do nothing but welcome your new team, you will be working well with them".

Naruto's eyes tentatively searched in hers, trying to find some clue on his new mates, but Tsunade shook her head, "they will be here any time now…"

That moment, there was a knock on the door, and she smirked, "come inside".

Naruto gulped. He could hear some footsteps approaching, and he breathed in and out once before turning to see who would be his companions from now on.

What he saw shocked him.

Totally.

"Naruto–kun! We will be showing our youthful flames together now!"

"Hn…"

"How troublesome…"

Naruto blinked.

Of all the people he would have thought, these were… well, not at all contemplated.

In front of him stood three of his friends, and the blond could do nothing but feel a tug in his chest at the sight.

The first one was Rock Lee, still dressed in a green spandex, still with giant fuzzy eyebrows, with a smile that could rival with the sun with its brightness. He was standing proud and defying, pointing his thumb upwards and his eyes were flashing with happiness and determination.

The second one was Neji. That could have been a good sign, since the Hyuuga and Lee worked well together and knew much of each others' style. Neji was still wearing one of his clan's clothes, refusing to wear the Chuunin's vest over it (but that was to be expected). His long hair were tied up in a lose ponytail, and though his expression revealed nothing, his eyes were warm instead of cold like before.

He looked happy to see Naruto.

The third one was the most unexpected of the three, and it was Nara, Shikamaru. As usual he was slouching, had a bored and tired expression, a frown, and the typical face of one who was annoyed with the entire world. Naruto couldn't but smile at him.

"You guys?" his blue eyes were widened in shock, and stared at each of them surprised; finally snapping out of his trance, he turned to a smiling Tsunade, and tried to suppress the urge to hug her.

A heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders the moment he'd seen them.

"Lee, are you a Chuunin?" Naruto turned again to the spandex–wearing teen, who simply smiled at him even more brightly.

"Tsunade–sama said my fight and my skills proved indispensable, despite my impossibility to use my chakra, and she said I deserved to be a Chuunin as much as you guys!"

Naruto felt warm inside. He had always believed Lee would made a great shinobi, despite his problem, and he knew he would manage everything, because he respected Fuzzy Eyebrows, and he had a determination that was just like his own.

Then the blond frowned. Had Tsunade put them together only to give him a team that would not judge him? What about the balance of the previous teams? What about Shikamaru's, what about TenTen?

He needed to know the reasons behind this choice.

"Why?" he asked her.

Tsunade smirked knowingly, before pointing towards Shikamaru, who looked ready to pass out right then and there.

"Your friend here will be happy to explain, I am sure".

Shikamaru glared at her (he spared no one, not even the Hokage) and straightened up, popping a few bones of his back as he did so.

"What Tsunade–sama is trying to say" he muttered, his hands on his hips, "is that she wanted to put together a good team that would be able not only to work together, but also to be strong. Normally a team of Chuunin would not be a good choice, but she knows our strengths and our weaknesses and decided basing on those that we would be perfect".

Shikamaru yawned again, pointing towards Lee and Neji.

"Lee is our speed. No one would be able to beat him into it, and he is also immune to Genjutsu because his chakra patterns are blocked and unreachable. That means Genjutsu can't affect him because they usually trigger chakra circulation, that he has not" Lee smiled sheepishly, but this time, his weakness had turned into strength.

Naruto smiled back.

"Neji has a useful bloodline, that helps him keep an eye on his surroundings, on the chakra patters of any enemy ninja, and his fighting style has a good range. He is trained on many Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, and his knowledge on illusions is useful".

Neji's eyes narrowed slightly but he nodded without saying a word.

"As for you Naruto, you are the pure strength. You have a poor use of Genjutsu, but your style of fighting is direct and powerful, that means you are perfect for straight attacks, and your chakra reserves and stamina are high enough to consent you to fight for a long time without getting tired easily" Shikamaru smirked at the offended glare he received when he spoke out of Naruto's weakness with Genjutsu, but the blond had to admit that Shikamaru was right about that.

"And you?" the blond asked with a frown.

"I am a strategist, as you all noticed during our mission together. I can analyze my surroundings, prepare traps on any territory because of this, analyze battle strategies, and give a back support by using my Kagemane jutsu, immobilizing the enemies with it… it's more of an infiltration quality, which is a helpful trait in a team like ours" he concluded.

Naruto blinked. If it came to him, he wouldn't have put together such a team because, face it, he was not an observer like Shikamaru.

The lazy teen had indeed worked out their weaknesses and strength together, and now that he thought of it, Naruto saw just how good of a choice that would be.

Lee would be on the first line in case of illusion based attacks, giving Neji the time to dispel them; Neji had a good sight but it tired him out easily, and that's when both Shikamaru with his blocking technique and Naruto with his stamina came into the play.

They were not experienced like jounin could, but they had managed to beat the sound five (the four plus Kimimaro) that proved they could work together flawlessly.

They knew and trusted each other, knew what to watch out for and what prevent when in mission, and of course worked well together.

Naruto could see the skills Tsunade had, because not only she had put him in a team that would not question or judge him, but also a team that could actually work out.

He smiled brightly, mentally thanking the old hag.

"I won't give you a mission right now," she said then, her hands on the desk in front of her. "I bet you have a lot of things to talk about, since now you are going to be team mates. Come here after lunch, and you will receive your first mission".

All of them nodded together and Lee, Shikamaru and Neji walked out of Tsunade's office; Naruto lingered for a moment, and seeing the three were out of range, he turned towards the Hokage and in a flash he hugged her.

Tsunade had barely the time to brace herself from the hit, and it lasted only a second; the moment she blinked, Naruto was already waving at her and exiting the room as well.

But she had heard his words when he was hugging her.

"_Thanks…"_

"No problem, gaki," she replied with a smile. She just hoped for him to be happy.

……………………………………………

"Naruto–kun, are you happy? I can't wait to get our first mission already!"

Naruto turned to Lee, beaming at him and lifting his thumb as well, "of course I am excited too! I can't wait to get started!"

He felt better now, because he had three companions he could trust with his life, and he would go far with them, he was sure of that.

Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, Naruto's stomach grumbled.

"Heh, sorry guys, I didn't eat this morning" Naruto laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

Neji, Shikamaru and Lee all stared at him, but their eyes were not shocked. They could understand what he went through.

After Sasuke's defection, it was obvious that Naruto would be uncomfortable about him. That and his sudden promotion were surely why he'd asked the Hokage to move him out of Team Seven.

Knowing this, it was obvious he would have been afraid of who would be his new comrades.

"Well then, what about we go eat together?" Shikamaru proposed, yawning. "Walking around at this hour, much less waiting up to noon for our mission, would be too troublesome, ne?"

Naruto beamed at him, and before any of them could even _think_ about complaining, he was already pushing them all towards Ichiraku ramen.

Neji sighed inwardly, his eyes turning towards the hospital where Sasuke was still held in. his hatred for the Uchiha had increased a lot after their rescue mission and what he'd heard about the battle at the Valley of End.

The Uchiha had tried to kill Naruto, and to Neji it didn't matter his mind had been poisoned by Orochimaru's cursed seal, it was still his fault because he'd let his revenge and his hatred control him.

To him, Sasuke was at fault.

Naruto had helped many people after all, Neji was one of them, and he would do anything to give happiness to the person that made him realize he had a chance in life too.

He would protect Naruto at any cost.

Even from Sasuke… especially from him…

……………………………………………

The silence in the room would have been deafening and unsettling for anyone else, but for the figure that was on the bed, it was nothing but comforting.

Time was like moving slower inside the hospital room, curtains closed, a cool comforting darkness enveloping everything so he could no longer distinguish one shape from the other; night and day were moving around him but he didn't care, people came, people talked to him and cured his body, but all the time Sasuke merely remained there.

Motionlessly, looking at the ceiling above him.

Everything was in a daze ever since he could remember, from Tsunade–sama entering the room and helping some of his wounds to heal, to the questioning, to the ANBU guards sealing the room with him inside.

He could see some of the sealing papers move without any breeze to touch them at the corners of the room.

When did this happen? When did this start?

Sasuke had no answers, no good ones at least; he could remember everything he'd done, everything he'd said, but it was like a distant memory.

He could recall what the Hokage had said to him, that the curse on his neck had altered his brain processing, making it easier for the darkness Orochimaru had implanted in him to grow and feed off his desire of revenge.

His whole body hurt; he'd strained it by fighting with the level two of the curse seal, knowing he was testing his limits a little too much, and now he had to take the backlash…

If he had the strength to, Sasuke would have hit his fist on the wall next to the bed. How? How could he have been so foolish? How could he have let the darkness corrupt him?

Was he that weak?

His only goal, ever since he could remember (he refused to remember the past before the massacre, it would only make him feel more pain in his chest than he already felt) was to get revenge on the man he once called brother.

His entire life had been rotating around this goal, making everything move in the back, disappearing away, not to be looked at again anymore; he'd never had friends, he'd never had free time, nor smiles to spare, no good times after his family had left him with a burden he himself had put on him.

He'd trained hard, trying to prove to everyone he could be just as strong as the person he wanted to kill, but in the end, only deluding himself.

Had his foolishness really reached such levels he thought he could have been able to defeat Itachi like this?

Where did his rationality go then?

He was twelve.

A kid, and yet, already a man, for his past, his present, his future and his decisions in life made him grow faster than needed.

But Itachi was more experienced, advanced. A genius. Deluding himself into believing he could kill Itachi like this… he really was nothing but a fool.

He would grow stronger and beat him with his own strength, no matter how many years he would have to wait… there was no need to hasten things up, since he believed no one would ever be able to kill, or even harm Itachi.

He was the one that could do that, and Itachi in some way had known.

But right now, Sasuke was nothing.

He'd let his revenge take over on his life, but this was not the right way. He would never get stronger like this, that's why he'd been falling behind lately, because he'd seen he wasn't progressing and he was unhappy about it.

He was not a genius. He just worked hard, practicing up to perfection. But it would take him years to be strong enough to get to Itachi knowing he actually had a chance.

That's why, when Orochimaru had offered him immediate power, he'd accepted without thinking back. Of course. He hadn't wanted to wait and he'd lusted for power.

But he'd been wrong.

He would get no satisfaction in killing Itachi with a borrowed power, because it wouldn't have been his… and Orochimaru had offered him something to gain something back –his body.

Sasuke couldn't but shudder realizing he would have given the Snake his body only to kill his brother.

Where had this insanity come from?

This was not him.

And he had to stop avoiding to think about the other one he'd hurt in the process, as well.

Someone who had believed in him and had not renounced in being his friend not even when others did, who had trusted him, helped him, saved his life many times and in the end, took him back, knowing what Sasuke was doing was his worst decision.

Naruto…

The mere name brought a pain in Sasuke's chest he had not imagined he could feel.

Naruto was his best friend.

And he'd wanted to kill him only to obtain something that would not allow him to kill Itachi, but that would make him just like him.

Sasuke had to admit to himself that the curse had only made his real thoughts stronger. Because he really had felt he was weaker compared to Naruto, because he could see the blond moving away from him.

But what he hadn't seen was the way Naruto would always turn back and smile, offering Sasuke his hand.

They were rivals, friends, team mates, and family.

Sasuke had broken all of this because of revenge.

Naruto had never looked down on him with pity. He had always looked at him friendly.

'_How could I have been such a stupid? I turned down my only chance at return normal again… I went deeper into my darkness, believing I could finally have my revenge… that my hatred would be enough to make me win, that just because I am in the right I would get justice. Life is not like this, life is unfair… a child alone can't beat a powerful and grown man'._

He'd been proud.

He'd been cold.

He'd been stupid all this time.

Refusing to live, doing what his brother had wanted from the very start –ruining his life with his own hands.

Oh, he still wanted to kill Itachi, to revenge his clan, but he knew he could not allow that to ruin his life, because one day he would be strong enough. But not now.

He was still young, he had much to learn… he had to let go of the hatred that had ruined the only relationship worthy the time…

Hatred would not help, not at all.

Sasuke let his tired eyes trail down his body as he traced the wounds he had, wounds that were hard to heal due to the curse seal on his neck, flaring painfully every now and then (_Orochimaru knew he'd failed…_), wounds that had been placed upon his body not out of hatred, but out of care…

Naruto had cared enough, the stupid blond had ignored what others would have accepted (that he was lost, and would never go back) and had fought him with all he had, to take Sasuke back.

Sasuke was back.

But in returning, he'd lost something important, something too precious.

_Naruto's trust._

What was his pride confronted to his friendship with Naruto, something that ran so deep not even hatred stopped the blond from saving him?

Naruto had never come to him, but Sasuke could understand. It hurt, but he could understand. Even Naruto's never ending patience and carefulness was bound to snap… and he'd made it snap.

Was he even worthy trying to get it back?

Because the truth was, Sasuke wanted badly for Naruto to forgive him. He wanted to be friends with the blond again, because Naruto had been the only light in his darkness, even with his cursed seal hurting him.

He'd admitted Naruto was his best friend. The only one he'd told many things, the only that could understand him.

And he understood Naruto.

He'd finally realized what made Naruto different, and why everyone hated him, and he still thought Naruto was what he was –a loud, blond, pranking–lover, idiot.

His friend.

Despite demons, hatred and revenge.

He would do anything to gain Naruto's trust back, and this time Sasuke knew it would be all in his hands.

Naruto would not give him another possibility, not this time. He'd gone too far to turn back, but somehow, Sasuke knew he had to get Naruto back in his life like they were before.

Because Sasuke was selfish, and he wasn't going to renounce to Naruto's friendship, he needed it. He'd been the only one to see him for what he was, and not because he was an Uchiha.

Sasuke wowed again, over and over, that he would mend things, and never ruin their friendship again.

There had to be a way.

There had to, and he couldn't wait until their team reunited again.

……………………………………………

"So, if you are with me now, what about your teams?" Naruto asked, biting his lip. The thought returned to him full force now that they were out of Tsunade's office, and he wanted to know.

"TenTen decided she would get some training from her dad, since her family masters weapons, and Gai–sensei decided to take another genin team this year" Neji replied looking at the blonde. "He still will train us whenever we want".

"Of course! Gai–sensei is the best teacher we will ever get, and he is eager to look upon our growing with a burning flame!" Lee added, his respect for his teacher was similar to the one Naruto had for Iruka (but Naruto would never admit that… besides, he would never walk around dressed like Iruka–sensei…).

"Chouji asked for a place at the academy" Shikamaru revealed.

That shocked Naruto so much he almost tripped on a rock.

"What!" he could not imagine Chouji teaching, not at all.

"Well, he won't be teaching, he is still too young," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "But he will help around for a while. He will also do solo missions, or with Asuma–sensei and the other Chuunin".

"What about Ino then?" Naruto questioned.

"Ino… well," Shikamaru scratched his nose. This was indeed troublesome.

He didn't want to remind Naruto of his old team, because by the looks of it the blond was trying hard to not think about his two ex–mates, but he needed to know.

"Since you are with us, the teams needed to be redone… and she got assigned for a while to Kakashi–sensei, as new member of Team Seven" he mumbled.

Naruto fell silent.

So Ino would be joining Sakura, Kakashi and…

"I… I am happy for her, then" Naruto forced a smile. "But I don't think she'll get along with Sakura at all!"

Neji glared and stepped towards Naruto, blocking his path.

"Don't force a smile, not one like this" he growled. "There is no need for fake smiles with us".

Naruto blinked, and saw both Lee and Shikamaru staring at him, and Neji too.

He was already worrying his new team members, and friends. He'd promised himself he would not be an annoyance, and there he was, already moping around.

What a stupid thing to do.

Besides, they cared for him.

"Yeah," he murmured, glancing at the ground.

The next second he stared up again, his eyes brightening up, "let's go eat ramen now!"

"Naruto!"

Naruto smiled brightly as he spotted his old academy sensei, Umino Iruka, walk towards him with a big smile on his face.

"Iruka–sensei!"

A second later, despite the odd looks he received from his team (he would get used to call them team now…) Naruto jumped on Iruka and hugged him senseless.

He was glad he could see his mentor before his first Chuunin mission, because he wanted a good advice from him before actually starting off.

Iruka was part of his life, like a father (as he'd admitted once…) and he would never back off from his advice.

"I heard of your promotion" Iruka smiled warmly down at him, aware of how strange both looked to the blond teen's friends, but finding out he couldn't care less. He was used in Naruto's acting and he liked it himself, it was warm and affectionate. Shikamaru, good of your special mention".

Lee smiled and started saying something about youth, whilst Shikamaru and Neji merely nodded in greeting. They remembered Iruka since they had both had him as a teacher at the academy as well (even the Hyuuga, one year older than the others, had him).

Naruto smiled again at Iruka, "we're going to have something to eat before we get our first mission," he explained his teacher eagerly. "But when I return I expect you to offer me ramen to celebrate!"

Iruka had a battle inside. For once, he was glad Naruto was so eager and happy (it had been too much since he'd last smiled this sincerely) but on the other part, he feared the offer. He would spend all his pay on Naruto's ramen!

Naruto looked up at him expectantly and Iruka groaned inwardly –he could not resist this look. He was happy when Naruto was happy.

"Yes, I will… but be considerate of my salary!" he tried to add.

Naruto wasn't really listening after the 'yes I will' so he just sighed and shook his head.

"Naruto, I have to go now," he said, realizing he was going to be late for the morning lesson. "I know you'll do your best in this mission, so good luck to you all!"

With that, he walked away, with a smile on his lips. He wanted to see Naruto happy, and seeing him this excited made him remember the first day he became a genin.

He would be doing fine, just fine, he thought.

……………………………………………

**StarsOfYaoi:** thanks for reading this, and if you liked, leave a comment here :)

I don't like Sasuke's part a lot, I may reserve the chance to go back and change it one day.

Review?


	3. Reveal

**Note:** a somewhat dull chapter. please, bear with me, the action will come soon enough. And tomorrow I will also post WR.

**Thanks to all the people that reviewed me!**

**StarsOfYaoi:** I am glad you all like this fic, there will be a lot of angsty on Naruto's part, and it will be also Sasuke's fault. But don't think this will be rushed with Naruto crying out his love for Sasuke or the opposite. I love IC–ness. And I hate what goes on under "I don't love him, but even if I do, he doesn't love me" bull–shit crap.

……………………………………………

**Rating**: T

**Summary:** (SasuNaru, NejiShika, eventually others) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncover and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.

**Warnings:** yaoi, boy x boy relationship, **_angsty_**, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.

**Disclaimer**: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

……………………………………………

**Normality**

**Chapter 02: Reveal**

Naruto was silent and uncharacteristically concentrated as he read twice the mission's details of the scroll Tsunade had handed to them; Neji had been the first one to read it, since he was the older one and for now, he would be the leader of the team.

After all, he was the most qualified to take up that position, and all the others agreed on that without any objection.

Now the newly formed team (they still needed a name, and Neji didn't accept Naruto's suggestion to label it 'Ramen') wore their Chuunin jackets, though it clashed horribly with Naruto's orange outfit. Neji was the only one without it, because his clan demanded him to look cool and that damn vest was not cool at all.

At least Lee looked just a little more green than usual…

Unknown to Naruto and Lee, Shikamaru and Neji were determined in forcing them to change their clothes in the near future. If they were to take on missions seriously, they could not allow such shiny colour (orange), that was easily spotted, and about Lee… well that was pure sense of fashion.

The mission was a middle C–ranked one, nothing too hard on their part especially since it was their first one, but a good way to start as Chuunin. The team would have to move to the Kaze no Kuni to intercept a secret scroll from a group of Ame nin; the scroll was important, and a small group of nins from Kusa no Kuni (the Grass Country) was chasing it.

The missing–nins were not particularly strong, but Amegakure had grown weaker in the last few months, since the death of the Country leader by the hands of the Kusa nins, and had required help from Konoha.

Amegakure and Konohagakure had never really been allies, many years of animosity had kept the two villages in a constant state of tension; but after the latest Chuunin exams and the Oto nins' attack on both Konoha and Suna, that tension had turned into a need of stability.

Ame was not a pacific country on the inside, and the growing contrast with Kusa only caused major damage on the already troubled land. Seeking protection from a strong country, the Country leader had asked Konohagakure for help.

Unfortunately Konoha was already doubling its normal work because of the death of Sandaime, and even if now the Godaime Hokage was doing a great work, slowly but surely raising Konoha to its full power once again, there were many things that could not be prevented.

Kusagakure had declared war against Ame, and with an assassination had gotten rid of the Country leader.

Such news had arrived to Konoha in no time, but the situation was unsure in the Village of the Leaf as well, mostly because of the sudden and unexpected attempted defection of the last Uchiha (that had been hastily hidden to the villagers, and to most of the shinobi as well in fear that the news would spread to other countries) to Orochimaru.

Now that the situation in Konoha was slightly better, Tsunade had decided to intertwine a relation with Ame, where the council and the clan leaders were already working for the new Country leader's election, and get the Grass country (that was relatively small and weak compared to the Hi no Kuni) to lower their lust for power.

Of course of the four teens of Naruto's new team, only Neji was aware of the current uncertain situation in the Ame no Kuni, mostly because Hiashi had taken his nephew's training under his tutelage, and was treating him like family and not like a slave anymore.

That meant Neji was now more informed on the politics of Konoha with its allies and enemies, included Amegakure and Kusagakure.

The Ame nins would be meeting Naruto and his team in the Kaze no Kuni mostly because it was a neutral territory (Ame and Konoha's countries were separated by none other than Kusa no Kuni) that had no relations with either Grass nor Rain, and because the type of landscape was unfamiliar to the grass nins.

"So… we have to find a group of Rain shinobi and take a scroll from them?" Naruto scrunched up his face and closed his eyes, resembling vaguely a fox. "I don't find this a hard mission!"

"Amegakure is in a war against Kusagakure, and Grass nins will do anything to get their hands on that scroll," Tsunade explained, her face showing nothing but seriousness. "I am certain you will protect it, and I am sure you will make sure to come back unharmed as well".

Neji stepped forwards as Naruto passed the scroll to Shikamaru and Lee, and nodded with a determined expression, white eyes darkening slightly; the Hokage shared a look with him, knowing he was aware of the danger, "We won't fail the mission, Tsunade–sama" he stated.

Tsunade smiled and nodded to the young teen.

The four straightened, and turned away, ready to start their mission, but before they could get out of Tsunade's office, the blonde suddenly cleared her voice and bit her lip.

"Naruto, come back here for a moment, I need to speak to you" she said. The three remaining boys looked at the two, but Naruto motioned them to go.

"I'll be there in a moment," he assured them, smiling brightly.

He'd noticed Tsunade was not smiling anymore, and he had the feeling it concerned him.

The door closed, and he flopped down on the seat in front of the desk, blue eyes blinking at the Hokage curiously.

"What, Tsunade obaa–chan?" he asked, trying to lighten the sudden tension in the room.

"Naruto, I want to be sincere with you about your promotion, because I know you deserve the truth" she started. Her eyes were sad, but determined as well, and Naruto nodded. "The Elders' council was against it," Tsunade sighed and leaned on her hands, watching Naruto's reaction. "But I refused to listen to them".

At first, Naruto's first reaction was to jump up, eyes widening in shock, but then he thought about her words and realized the meaning.

The council did not trust the demon holder with more power than he already had. Naruto knew that he'd been allowed in the academy because Sandaime had ordered the teachers, but they had never helped him in any way, refusing to explain to him the basics and the lessons if he were to not understand, this way preventing him for two years to pass the exam.

Now that he knew about Kyuubi it was easy to figure out why, but at the time, he'd simply lost two years (he'd started the academy two years before the others of his age because otherwise he would have been alone all day in his apartment, and unknown to the blond, Sandaime had already prevented five assassination attempts on him).

Naruto was not stupid. He could see why the council would not want him to get more power in the ninja rankings, because of his demon; they all believed _him_ to be the demon.

But to know that Tsunade had forced it out of them, standing at his side, made him happy inside; he knew what it meant, to have the Hokage disagree with the council, but he felt glad she supported him.

"I was not the only one to stand by your side," Tsunade's face turned into a small smile, seeing Naruto's grateful eyes. "Jiraiya, too… and the head of the clan families defied the elders of the council as well".

Naruto's eyes widened in shock –the clan leaders had wanted him to be Chuunin?

Even though Naruto wasn't really interested in Konoha's politics, he knew that if he wanted to become Hokage he would have to know everything about them; as it was, he knew that the village had two councils –the Clan council and the Elder council.

The two councils had separate meetings, but once in a while, if It concerned things that had to be decided with impartiality, they would meet up together; the family clan heads were members of the first council, whilst the second council, controlled by the elder villagers and shinobi, made decisions regarding strictly the village's internal politics.

Both worked for the welfare of the village, but they still were under the direct control of the Hokage.

"Naruto, you don't know it yet, but you're not alone anymore. The head of the Hyuuga has respect for you after what you did for his nephew and his daughter, and the head of the Akimichi, the Nara and the Inuzuka also respect you, mostly because their sons are your friends".

Naruto blinked. This was unexpected, to say the least; he'd grown to be hated by everyone, and to see the parents' hatred turned to the children. He'd met people who did not hate him only when he entered team seven, but he would have never believed the head of the clan families would stand for him against the council elders.

He knew that his friend's fathers were part of the oldest family clans of Konoha, but he'd never realized just how influent they could be, if their grouped decisions could overcome the Elders'.

"You have all of us at your side, and those old gits have no right to step on you because of what they think" Tsunade's eyes flashed with rage. "Though, it's up to you now. They accepted your promotion, but they demand you to show your loyalty to Konoha, and that you have no intentions to destroy or betray it".

Naruto smirked, "they fear I will go, meet up with Itachi, and then join in Akatsuki?" he let out a small laugh, but the serious expression of Tsunade did not falter, making him sober up again.

"No, they fear you will lose to Kyuubi, because you don't have a good control of your chakra. The clan heads suggested you to be trained for that, and of course, this was what I was waiting for –Jiraiya is the one that will take this role".

"Ero–sennin!" Naruto was shocked.

The prospective of train under that man was both something he could look forwards to, and dread; he was aware that Jiraiya was strong, after all he'd trained the Fourth, and had been under Sandaime. But he was a pervert, before everything else.

"You can go now, Naruto," Tsunade smiled slightly at him. "One last thing. If you want to see if your friends trust you, try confiding in them first. If you were to use Kyuubi's chakra in a battle, without them knowing what you host, this will put all of you in danger".

Naruto nodded and left.

……………………………………………

The window of the Hokage's office opened without a sound, and a shape slipped in, standing against the frame and covering Tsunade's view of the Mountain; the blonde let her eyes trail to the man before letting out a small sigh.

Both knew Naruto had a long way to go, and that probably he would change to adapt himself to the challenges, as he was finally going to meet the worst aspect of being a shinobi, but both were sure Naruto would never get back of his word.

"So… he's finally going," Kakashi commented, staring lazily at the woman, his eye trailing towards the Hokage mountain a second later.

His voice was calm and collected and his only visible eye revealed nothing of his inner thoughts, but Tsunade was a medic nin. She could read posture and muscles and the barest flicker of an eye, and she knew Kakashi was not as calm as it would seem.

As a teacher, he cared for his students, but he'd been deprived of one and despite his faults, Kakashi had been a good sensei; he had his share of pain and sorrow, and had lost twice someone who was important for him…

"Yes," she replied evenly. It was not her business to pry into Kakashi's life, despite her position. "He'll be good, he still doesn't know how many care for him… not even my words can break through his carefully placed mask, because it's not me the one that can show him the truth".

Kakashi pulled out his orange book apparently from nowhere, and busied himself in it; anyone looking would have grimaced at this sight, and would have called him a pervert… but his eye could not really see the words on the paper. Everything in the book blurred away, and he could not concentrate.

He had a mask as well, and it wasn't the one covering half of his face. He could understand, he saw and noticed and still he'd failed.

"He refused the only one that can help, because he's also the one who caused him the majority of his pain," he reflected. The past was making its way in their present, but all of them were already aware of that.

Tsunade nodded.

"Their friendship is stronger than this, they need to recover it, but Naruto needs time. He'll come back, or at least he'll accept the fact, but I can't tell how much this will take".

Kakashi curved his eye in a smile, even though it wasn't entirely sincere, and shrugged.

"I just hope that friendship is mutual" he muttered.

Tsunade grimaced as Kakashi poofed away.

Slowly, she pulled out of a secret compartment of her desk a small bottle and a small blue cup, decorated with a black dragon all around its shape, and poured some of the clear liquid in the cup, sipping it slowly, savouring the burning sensation of the alcohol in her throat.

Rubbing the spot between her eyes with two fingers, Tsunade eyed the photos on a shelf next to the window; some of them had a thin layer of dust on them, but they looked cared over.

Clear eyes stilled on a particularly young face that was smiling towards her, and with a sigh, she dawned her sake.

……………………………………………

"I am glad we have some missions all together, this will let us create a bond!" Lee smiled at the other two teens who were next to him in front of the Hokage tower, then, he frowned. "I wonder why Naruto–kun asked for a Team change anyway…"

Shikamaru groaned, but he was asking himself the same question; though he was aware of the sudden tension between his blond friend and the Uchiha, he didn't know what had happened during the two's confrontation, at the Valley of End.

It had been Kakashi the one that took both home, and even though their condition wasn't the best, Shikamaru knew the real wounds had been mental, at least for Naruto; the blond took the meaning of friendship in a much deeper way than any other person and probably he felt not just betrayed by Sasuke, but also guilty.

Naruto deserved better than what he had. Shikamaru was Naruto's friend, and Lee and Neji as well. They would care for him. All of them remembered when Tsunade had called them and told them they would be teaming up with Naruto.

Shikamaru hoped he would be able to forget Lee and Gai's goodbye… even though both said they would still train every free day.

Neji moved his head to the left, sensing Naruto run up to them, and nodded towards the others, signalling they could start up for their mission.

As the blond teen approached the group, he motioned for them to stop and wait for him, his face seeming troubled; Lee blinked, noticing something was bothering his new team mate, and decided to cheer him up a bit.

"What does–" he opened his mouth but felt a hand close it up, and glancing on the side he noticed his rival Neji shaking his head at him.

Lee frowned, not understanding why he had to shut up, since he only had wanted to cheer up Naruto. The blond boy didn't seem to notice their behaviour, but put up one of his usual smiles and waved at them.

"Are you ready to go, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked him, deciding they would just have to wait for the blond to reveal them what was bothering him.

"Of course!" he beamed.

'_I think Tsunade is right…'_ inwardly Naruto shuddered. He had an obvious problem with telling his new team about Kyuubi, mostly because he wasn't sure of what would be their reaction, but he knew what the old hag meant.

If he were to use Kyuubi's power during one of their missions, even changing appearance (he was aware of how he appeared because he _felt_ it), his team would be shocked and maybe do something that could put all of them in danger out of fear or surprise.

Besides, he tried to reassure himself, if they were his friends, they would not care… much. they would… understand…

Neji stepped at his right, locking eyes with him "anything you need, you can rely on us" he said levelly, then stared in front of him. "We are team mates and friends, you are not forced to face everything alone".

The Hyuuga knew how important friendship was, and he had to thank Naruto for that; now he wanted to help Naruto just as much as the blond had helped him. Facing everything by himself would only hurt him.

Naruto blinked, stunned; he'd acted as usual, but they had noticed. It had never happened before, with his old team. Sakura would have snorted and called him a stupid, Kakashi maybe would have noticed, but would have said nothing because it wasn't his place to intervene, and Sasuke… he would have snorted in disgust.

Not that Team Seven didn't care, Naruto knew that because they had helped each other in a lot of situations… and he cared for them deeply…

But no one had ever… no one had ever noticed, no one had ever offered him to share his troubles.

Naruto smiled. He felt he'd made the right decision.

……………………………………………

They moved swiftly through the forest, following a scheme Shikamaru had explained in a couple of seconds; all of them were determined and ready to fight off anything that could come their way, and they had complete faith in their companions.

First was Lee, because being the faster one among them could run ahead and scout back to the group; a green blur among the leaves and the trees, Lee moved without strain nor hesitation, slowing down every once in a while to report to his friends.

Second was Shikamaru, who kept an eye on the surroundings for any kind of trap (the dangers were not just from the Kusa–nins, but also from random lower ninja, thieves or bandits), tense and brain spinning.

Third was Naruto, for obvious matters, and he was busy focusing on his pace, trying to not think about what he had to reveal to his friends. He knew he should be paying more attention to his surroundings and that this was not professional for his first mission as a Chuunin, but he couldn't help it.

Neji was the last one, switching his Byakugan from activated to dormant every now and then due to the chakra waste it required.

They were not used to move without a Jounin sensei, but the fact that they were all friends helped them a lot and put them at ease; without even noticing, they communicated with small hand signs and glances, and continued moving towards Kaze no Kuni.

For the first day, since their departure from the village until evening they moved flawlessly and silently, surprisingly enough since two of the team were known to be anything but quiet –but then again, many things were different when in mission.

At a certain point, one hour after the sun had fallen behind the line of the horizon, Neji lifted his right hand slightly to signal the rest of the team to stop, moving in front of everyone else with a swift jump; Shikamaru, Naruto and Lee stopped and grouped near their leader, who nodded once to tell them they would stop here for the night.

"Shikamaru, where are we approximately?" Naruto cracked his knuckles, feeling rather contented for their fast pace.

"We should be halfway through, we've been moving fast and found no problems until now," the Nara replied, munching on his lower lip. "We should get some rest, and take turns awake in case someone approaches".

The rest of them nodded, and fifteen minutes later they had camped for the night; none of them had brought a tent for obvious practical reasons, but all of them had a sleeping bag. Neji suggested to place them to form a circle around their fire camp, that way they would be protected and control around them without fear of being attacked by behind.

Whilst Lee arranged the fire with some sticks he'd collected, Naruto was busy placing around a few traps (after all he was the prankster of Konoha, and his knowledge of traps was huge), his thoughts still fixed on what Tsunade told him.

The moment all of them were together in front of the cracking fire, Neji sighed –the matter couldn't be avoided anymore.

"Naruto," he started, eyes serious and concentrated. "You've been unfocused all day. Care to explain why?" he hadn't meant to sound this harsh, so he decided to go for a more personal approach. "We're worried about you, Naruto, and you can confide in us".

Naruto bit his lip, knowing they had noticed his behaviour and silently blaming it on himself. He was in a mission, and he needed to speak with them…

He'd been stupid thought, he should have told them before the start of their mission, so if they had some problems they could have rejected his presence in the team…

And yet, they deserved to know. Now, when things were not that bad, and they were still near Konoha.

"I need… I need to tell you all something but I fear about what you'll think of me afterwards…" he started, his voice trembling slightly as he fidgeted, not sure of how to break the subject. He wasn't good with subtlety.

"Naruto–kun, if that's what will help you relax, tell us," Lee smiled brightly at him, confused by his behaviour, a little bit worried, but also curious.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered, rolling his eyes.

Naruto swallowed hard, this would be the first time he told someone of his burden and of his inner strength. "I…"

'_Hell with it all,'_ a part of him scolded him. _'Just tell them already! It'll be easier!'_

"I am the vessel of Kyuubi no kitsune!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the meadow, the name falling on his ears like a dead weight.

For a second everything was silent, and Naruto shut his eyes close, heart thumping madly in his chest. Now that he'd said it aloud, the words hung on his head and he felt both lighter (as if a weight had been lifted from him) and anxious.

"I understand if you don't want me on this mission anymore," he stammered, not looking up but frantically waving his arms around, moving backwards from his sitting position next to the fire. "And if you want me to move from your team to another I won't…"

"Naruto–"

"… I won't oppose to that, and if you're disgusted because I didn't say anything before…"

"Naruto–"

"… and if you won't I will never speak with you again and–"

"**Naruto!**"

Naruto's mouth snapped shut as he forced himself to look at the three teens. He didn't even realize his hands were trembling, but a deep fear of rejection and hatred was clenching his chest painfully.

"Naruto, it's ok, I already knew" Neji shook his head slightly.

"I do too," Shikamaru blinked tiredly and yawned.

Naruto was left speechless by that.

Many thoughts raced through his mind, preventing him from voicing them aloud, confusing him even more.

'_They already… how? Why? Why aren't they rejecting me? Did they know from the start? Why didn't any of them speak? Why isn't it bothering them?'_

"I… you… how… when…" Naruto closed his mouth once again.

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize the chakra you used at the Chuunin exams?" Neji's smile was faint but it was there. "It wasn't that hard to realize, at least not with a bit of thinking".

"Thinking is what I do all day, and you are a topic really interesting to ponder on" Shikamaru smirked at the dumbfounded expression of the blond.

"But then… why are you still…" Naruto shook his head, his words were failing him.

"We never told you because we were waiting for you to tell us by your own will" Neji shrugged. "It was not our place to tell everyone after all".

"And you're ok with that?" the blond was completely shocked.

Lee blinked confusedly at the other three.

"Why wouldn't we be ok with it? It's not like being the host of a demon would make you any different to us! I admire your burning flame, Naruto–kun! Such show of youth and determination! Up against everyone else!" he would have started ranting, but Neji once again placed his hand on his mouth.

"If that's what bothers you, Naruto, then I think you have nothing to worry about. We are friends, no matter what".

Naruto felt a tug in his chest, once again he'd underestimated his friends and once again they showed him their care.

And once again, his smile was just as bright as the sun.

……………………………………………

"Hey, Ino–pig!"

The blonde's left eye twitched slightly, as she turned towards her best friend aka worst rival Sakura, grimacing as she stared at her.

Sakura was smiling, and waving at Ino with bright eyes; knowing her, she probably had left Sasuke moments before and was too happy to care about anything else.

Ino was a bit angered by this.

She and Sakura had never really been close friends, but their friendship was a good one, and their name–callings were just a way to express it. But then, they had been separated by Sakura's sudden crush on the Uchiha heir, to which Ino answered in her own way, as she too had fallen for the brooding dark haired boy.

But after Sasuke had tried (unsuccessfully) to defect, and was brought back by Naruto, Ino had opened her eyes to the painful truth. She would never interest the Uchiha enough to get his attentions, and the only thing he cared for was revenge.

She had always been a practical girl, and not one to follow blindly on a stupid crush to the point of obsession, that was why in the last few months she had settled her aim on something that was hard on its own, but at the same time completely different.

Whilst her crush for Sasuke slowly vanished, and her mind started seeing how much time she had wasted on the Uchiha, she had also started to see how foolish she was, and how foolish Sakura _still_ was.

The pink haired girl wasn't getting any stronger, fussing all day over Sasuke, who on his part merely acknowledged her, but nothing more than that; she had forgotten to train, and she had forgotten her other team mate.

Naruto was the one who constantly improved. He had defeated Sasuke… or at least allowed Kakashi–sensei to take him back to Konoha.

And Naruto was the one who asked the Hokage to change teams now that he had been appointed Chuunin.

Sakura was delusional in many ways, but Ino had always thought she would place friendship above anything else.

She wasn't.

She was placing her crush above everything else.

And Ino didn't like this. She was ready to bet her allowance for the next ten missions that Sakura knew nothing of Naruto's decision or promotion.

But foolish and blind or not, the pink haired girl was her friend nonetheless, and she would act like a friend no matter what.

"Sakura!" she waved slightly at her, waiting for the girl to catch up with her.

"Ino–pig, it's been a while!" Sakura had a satisfied expression, happy she could brag with her rival and friend about all the time she was spending with _her_ Sasuke–kun.

Totally oblivious to the frown on the blonde's face, Sakura smiled brightly and intertwined her fingers behind her back; it had been a very wonderful day for her, she'd spent all that time tending to Sasuke, and even though he had never even looked at her, nor responded to her chatting, she was sure it was mere shyness.

She knew Sasuke didn't want anyone to enter his hospital room, but she always entered no matter what.

Ino stared at her. She looked happy. Maybe she could just wait to see if she would snap out of her crush by herself, or if she would get hurt by it; Ino couldn't do anything, she would risk their friendship and she didn't want that.

"Say, big–forehead, have you seen Naruto lately?" she asked.

Sakura blinked.

Now that she thought of it, she hadn't seen Naruto at all ever since he and Sasuke came back. She was feeling a little guilty, but that way he would not interfere while she tried to win Sasuke's heart.

Besides, he was fine, he was always fine. He'd always been fine.

"No, but I heard he got out of the hospital" she smiled. "Ino–pig, where were you going?"

Ino sighed. It wasn't her place to tell Sakura about the changes in the team dynamics. She would realize that soon enough.

"I was going in the training area, want to join big–forehead?" she asked, hoping she would; a good sparring was what she needed now.

Sakura thought about it. She had been missing training, but Sasuke–kun was worthy it.

But a little bit of training would not hurt her, would it? It would relax her a bit, so she would be refreshed when she got back to Sasuke the next day.

"Sure! I'll beat you, just like I am beating you for Sasuke–kun's heart!" she smirked confidently.

Ino sighed, but followed her friend to the training area.

……………………………………………

**StarsOfYaoi:** so that was the third chapter. satisfied? No? will get better lately on.

Review?

Oh, I was wondering, would you like–accept–tolerate some yuri in this fic? It would not be InoSaku though… please, let me know. Also, you may have noticed I tend to appreciate Ino more than Sakura. Damn true.

But I won't make Sakura a weeping girl. She will just need some time to realize her mistakes and childish acting.


	4. Precious

**Note:** as for the OC warning, it won't happen until some more chapters, don't worry, and the OCs won't be that important for the plot.

**Thanks to all the people that reviewed me!**

**StarsOfYaoi:** I noticed most of you are ok with some shoujo–ai, and since I wanted it in, I'll add it. It won't be major so if you feel uncomfortable with it or don't like, you will be able to evade it; the couple I was thinking, could be InoTen. I don't want to add InoSaku because, even though it's the most known, it's not my favourite. Be considerate with this, ok?

Also, maybe this chapter won't seem important to you, but I assure you it has interest with the plot.

……………………………………………

**Rating**: T

**Summary:** (SasuNaru, NejiShika, InoTen, eventually LeeSaku) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncovered and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.

**Warnings:** yaoi, boy x boy relationship, **_angsty_**, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.

**Disclaimer**: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

……………………………………………

**Normality**

**Chapter 03: Precious**

Up to now, the two–week mission had been easy; the team had entered Kaze no Kuni with no problems at all, moving quickly towards the small village where the Ame nins had asked to meet them.

Naruto had never felt better ever before, filled with energy, regarding everything he met as if seeing it for the first time, and truth to be told, he was hoping for something to happen; everything was going on way too easily for him, but he kept silent, not wanting to make Neji angered with him.

After all, such calm, eventless mission was the dream of every shinobi.

"We are almost there," Lee had been once again scouting forwards, and coming back he pointed in front of the group, smiling ruefully as he did so. "Two miles, after a small hill, the village is there. It's not big at all, and it looks pacific –the perfect place to go unnoticed, but we should probably hide among the villagers".

Hearing such words being spoken by him, Shikamaru couldn't stop a grimace; with a Naruto and a Lee in their team, unnoticed was not an option. Not unless…

"Fine," Neji replied, thinking along the same lines as Shikamaru was. "We travelled faster than expected and thus we are a day earlier –we can replenish our food and water cans and get some rest, but firstly I think we should take our hitai–ate away, to prevent being recognized as shinobi".

The other three teens nodded and untied their headbands, hiding them safely in their pouches before turning their eyes again on the Hyuuga, who was carefully replacing his own Leaf headband with a while string. All of them caught a glimpse of the greenish mark the raven had on his forehead, but none commented on it.

Naruto, Lee and Shikamaru all knew what it meant, but there was no pity reserved for Neji; understanding, acceptance, but never pity.

The blond ninja felt a pang of guilt as he took his hitai–ate away, just like every other time he was forced to do so, because that simple piece of clothing held so much meaning to him, memories and promises and feelings –Iruka–sensei himself had given it to him, that faithful day when Naruto had discovered his curse.

Nonetheless the hitai–ate was carefully placed away, because this was a mission. Naruto knew Iruka was already proud of him, and that was all that mattered to him.

The group started moving again, this time at a slower pace as the four teens tried to appear innocuous and harmless, walking towards the village where they would complete the mission; the place was small indeed, smaller than Konoha itself was, but it was a nice sight. Half–hidden behind a hill, there was a forest right next to it, disappearing in the distance towards the mountains.

Fields surrounded the village on the remaining two sides, and morphed into green fields as they disappeared further away. It looked not just nice and peaceful, but completely different than anything they had seed before.

As the four approached the first houses, they noticed the stables and the cowsheds standing right next to some small fields, and they could distinctly hear the noises of horses and other similar animals.

Even though they were in the Kaze no Kuni, not all of the country was dull and filled with sand like the territory around Sunagakure; at the borders, the desert morphed into some nice landscapes, mixing and merging with the other countries, and the great part of the people lived in the borders, preferring the mild temperature and landscape of the forests and camps to the deserted and desolated centre.

That was why the corners were filled with small villages like this one, rarely controlled by shinobi, where people lived without a care in the world, but still connected to the main cities.

"Anyone knows the name of this place?" Naruto wondered out aloud, stopping to take a look around; the village itself was quite familiar, and he guessed that, not counting the mist and the sea and the dampness, Inari's village was just like this one.

"I think the name is Tanedori" Shikamaru popped some bones of his back before turning his gaze around as well, his mind recalling all the information he had memorized from the scroll. "The villagers are mainly field workers and shepherds".

Naruto nodded, slanting his eyes a bit (and thus assuming his usual foxy–face) with a thoughtful look; he'd never really seen a real cow or a sheep ever, and he had the childish desire to go see one.

"Where are we going to meet with the Ame–nin?" Neji demanded, his eyes busy scanning the surroundings. He had not bothered to memorize every single thing in the scroll because he had expected Shikamaru to do it, being the lazy teen the one with the sharper memory.

"It should be somewhere next to a shrine dedicated to the local Ta no Kami" Shikamaru answered, pointing towards the woods on the other side of the village. "In this period of the year the annual ceremonies regarding the purification of the houses and the offerings to the Kami should already have ended, so until the shrine is taken to the house of one of the main families of the village, the place will be deserted to allow the Kami to come from the forest and take the offerings".

Lee and Naruto stared at him and blinked, not really understanding all the things the Nara was saying before they shrugged and nodded, not really caring all the same; Neji on his part had indeed understood, and nodded as well.

"Naruto, Lee, I want you two to refill our flasks and buy us some food whilst me and Shikamaru will search for the shrine and ask around for some information" Neji motioned for them to go, and they simply smiled brightly at him before moving away towards the village.

As the blond and the green spandex disappeared behind a corner, talking animatedly about something the two prodigies could not hear (and truthfully did not want to), Shikamaru's shoulders slouched even more and his brown eyes fixed on the Hyuuga.

"We know already where the shrine is, and we don't really need more water and food right now" he commented offhandedly, raising one eyebrow. "You've got something in mind".

Neji allowed his lips to curl upwards in a smirk. "I want to fix their clothes" he replied, staring around. "Naruto's colours are too flashy and shiny for a ninja, and Lee… well, you understand".

They would need to wait for their return to Konoha for some decent shinobi clothes (that were created with much stronger and flexible material than normal civilian clothes), but for hiding purposes, green spandexes and orange jumpers were absolutely **_not_** fit.

He did not know the reasoning behind Naruto's choose with outfits apart his liking for the colour, but he would find a perfect excuse telling him a good ninja would not reveal himself to his opponents, and for Lee… Gai was to be accused of poisoning the teen's mind with such horrendous clothes.

"How do we manage to convince them?" Shikamaru asked. "Tch, how troublesome…" the teen muttered, lacing his fingers behind his neck in contemplation.

But he was smirking as he followed Neji towards the village.

……………………………………………

Naruto looked around with wide eyes, taking in the appearance of the village; even though the houses were old styled, and some were ruined and looked like they would break down at any moment, everything had an aura of… familiarity and warmth, something that Konoha was missing.

Maybe it was because no one was a ninja in there, Naruto's mind supplied.

At his side, Lee was smiling happily as he stared at some children running down the streets, laughing and chasing each other. Lee loved young children, because they were happy and innocent.

Some of the children stopped as the two teens passed, looking in awe at Lee's giant eyebrows and at Naruto's hair colour (blond was definitely not normal around there) before giggling and running away again.

"Naruto–kun, it's been a while and I really wanted to ask you something" Lee turned towards his friend, thinking of a way to ask him the question that had been bugging him for so long without sounding impolite or annoying.

Naruto's shoulders tensed up, thinking Lee was going to ask him about his decision to leave Team7, but was surprised when the question voiced out loud was something else completely.

"I have seen you fight a lot of times, though we never sparred together" Lee made a note to himself to ask Naruto later to spar with him, and continued "I noticed you keep on using the Kage Bunshin jutsu a lot as you fight, and I wondered why".

Naruto blinked, then his smirk took up half of his face. "That move kick ass, I say! It's one of my favourite jutsus, even though I didn't learn it conventionally…" he looked away, remembering the affair with Mizuki and the Forbidden Scroll. "Why do you ask?"

Lee turned to stare at Naruto, "because it's useless, that's why!!!"

Naruto's face turned red.

"What do you mean it's useless!"

He stopped in the middle of the street, staring at Lee in disbelief. He wanted to tell Lee he was probably only jealous because he could not use his chakra for Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but he bit back his return, knowing Lee did not deserve such cruelty from him –the older teen was a great shinobi even without chakra.

Naruto could be a prankster and often he spoke without thinking, but he did not like to hurt his friends.

"Naruto–kun please, don't take me wrong, but that's something Gai–sensei explained to me when I told him I envied you for your use of chakra" Lee's face turned a bit sad for a moment, but it disappeared a second later, though Naruto noticed and felt a pang of guilt. "He said your use of Kage Bunshin is exaggerated, because even though it is good to confuse the enemies and for some combo attacks, any high level shinobi would easily find out the real you among the clones, and dispose easily of the Bunshin because they are weak, and disappear if hit once" Lee told him.

Naruto frowned, flashes of all his fights until now passing before his eyes; even though he'd always fought happily with his Kage Bunshin, even using a thousand for his attacks, he'd never really stopped to think about it.

Truth to be told, all his Bunshin were easily disposed off in a fair fight, even Sasuke had been good enough to make them all poof away easily, not to mention the stronger shinobi Naruto had met –Haku, Gaara, Orochimaru, Itachi…

His eyes widened as he realized something else, too. His levels of chakra always dropped down considerably during the fights mostly because he used Kage Bunshin carelessly, just as Kakashi had said to him when declaring he had a horrible chakra control.

What Lee was saying was terribly true and that hit Naruto like a fist on his face. The fact that he relied on this jutsu was clear, and it was even more so when considering that he never did use anything else.

"I don't…" he murmured. Lee frowned and leaned over a bit.

"What did you say, Naruto–kun?" he asked.

"I said I don't know any other attack, apart Rasengan and Henge" Naruto repeated, this time a bit more loudly. "Kakashi never taught me any good move, and I don't have…" he looked sour for a moment. "I don't have family scrolls to look at".

Lee looked at him in shock and his smile disappeared. Even though Lee himself had never been able to work with his own tenketsu points, thus had not being able to use chakra, Gai–sensei had always trained him hard, making him learn Taijutsu special moves that would nullify his incapacity, and had always worked hard to teach him jutsus and moves.

Maybe he was starting to see why Naruto had wanted to move out of his team, even though this could not be enough of a reason to, and he knew Naruto was not the person to give up on his friends (such youthful flame and dedication to his friends!) and move away because of that.

"Well, I am sure that I can help you train on your Taijutsu Naruto–kun!" he smiled happily at the blond, giving him the nice guy pose. "And I am sure that Neji and Shikamaru–kun will be glad to help with your training too!"

Naruto looked up at him, suddenly feeling nervous. "You would?"

"Of course! Gai–sensei always says that good friends and teammates should take care of each other!"

Naruto stiffened a bit but did not reply. He was still kind of sour of his own situation, but he was not willing to let it depress him.

Giving Lee his own foxy grin, Naruto smiled ruefully, "then I can't but accept! Let's work together to make great ninja!"

Lee smiled back at him, and Naruto realized that wrenched apart from Gai, Lee was actually nice and pretty good on his own, so he just had to ask his own question.

"Fuzzy Eyebrows, say" Naruto started, ignoring Lee's whimper to 'please stop calling me that' with a pleading tone. "Why do you insist in copying off Gai–sensei for everything he does?"

This earned him a scandalized look from Lee, whose eyes were turning into flames. "Gai–sensei is the best ever! He helped me when everyone else thought I would never get anywhere and he encouraged and cheered me on, and I am proud to be like him!"

"But Lee, don't you want to be someone on your own?" Naruto asked. Truth to be told, despite his first attitude of fright and light disgust towards the two, he'd realized he quite envied their relationship with each other.

Gai really cared for his team and one could see it. Not that Kakashi–sensei didn't care, just that… Naruto wasn't sure. Maybe he'd hoped he would get trained a bit more by Kakashi, but that was in the past, and he held no more a grudge against him.

"I understand you admire him, I admire Iruka–sensei just the same, but I'd never start wearing the same as he is and act the same as he does" he commented, slanting his eyes in his usual fox–expression.

"But I want to become just like Gai–sensei!" Lee replied, closing his hands into fists as he stared at Naruto with determined and delighted eyes. "He's my muse and the person I want to be like, and he's strong and he believes in me!"

"But…" Naruto thought about it. He understood Lee's speech, and shared part of it, but it still felt wrong, in a way. "If you ended up being a copy of Gai, you would not express your true potential, I think" he searched for the right words, recalling what he'd thought about Sasuke, too –that with borrowed power he would not get what he wanted.

It was… similar, in a way. Not completely so, but partly it was…

"And I think none of you would be happy about this. For how much you want to be like him, you are Lee and he's Gai–sensei… you can't be him. You can be yourself without having to be a copy of someone else, and even though you can still look up at him, you should find your own nindo" he continued. "I bet Gai–sensei would be proud if you started growing on your own, not copying him but creating your own path…"

He stopped, hoping he had not said something too much, and looking at his side he saw Lee's dumbstruck expression, eyes staring in front of him unseeing; for a moment he feared he'd offended Lee with his speech, but then the older teen turned towards him, crying hard in his usual fashion.

"Naruto–kun, what kind and meaningful words you have! Your flame of youth is indeed burning fiercely! You are indeed smart, that you saw something I could not…"

Naruto gulped.

"Fuzzy eyebrows, I have to thank you" he commented, stopping him before he could go on. Lee blinked and stared at him, becoming serious again. "I could not focus on what I was doing wrong because no one had bothered to tell me before, and even though I should have realized it myself, I did not".

Lee felt something inside him tighten. What could that mean? After all, Naruto's sensei was Kakashi, the almighty rival of Gai. He should have realized something like this when training Naruto, right?

"Well then, I think I'll start acting like a real ninja" Naruto commented, continuing without really noticing what he was saying anymore, as if talking to himself. "I dropped my Team because we were hurting each other and I can't look back now. I wanted to be noticed, and I wore bright colours because so everyone would see me and know I was there… but it's wrong if you're a ninja. Ninja can't be seen, can't be noticed… " he smiled to Lee, who fought the urge to step back as he saw Naruto's pained face.

Yeah, it was true. Naruto had been hated and ignored because of Kyuubi, and it was just normal he had tried to have everyone acknowledge his existence.

"But now… I realized that maybe I don't want to be noticed anymore… I realized that maybe… I want… just to blend in" Naruto continued, starting to walk again. "Ignore everyone and move on… "

Lee did not know what had happened to Team Seven before, but he could understand what Naruto was saying. After so many years of hatred, Sasuke's betrayal and almost defection had shattered Naruto's trust, and also Naruto's need to be in the spotlights.

He wanted nothing more than disappear, this time, so no one would look at him with hatred in their eyes.

"You know, Naruto–kun, I understand what you did, because I did it too…" Naruto turned towards him in shock. Lee was smiling at him. "I was shunned because I could not use my chakra, you know, I tried so hard to make everyone see me, and they just laughed. Gai–sensei was the only one who looked at me and helped me develop what I already have, that's why I am so close to him".

In Naruto's mind flashed a picture of Iruka, and he smiled back at Lee.

"I know what you mean… if I hadn't met sensei, I wouldn't be there now" _'I'd probably be like Gaara…'_ Naruto's mind supplied. The thought pained him more than he could admit.

"So you and Kakashi–sensei are close like me and Gai–sensei?" Lee felt a bit of relief, surely he'd thought it wrong, surely Kakashi was a great teacher just like Gai was…

"What?" Naruto stared at him. "No, not Kakashi–sensei, I mean Iruka–sensei".

"Our academy teacher?" Lee frowned again. He recalled meeting Iruka with Naruto before they took off for the mission, and remembered Naruto's happy face, as well as Iruka's.

Naruto nodded eagerly. "He was the first who acted with me not by calling me a demon, but as a person… it's because of him I am still here now, and I owe him to become the best ninja ever, because he helped me so much" Naruto's face brightened up in a smile.

The bowl–cut haired teen stared at him in surprise. Naruto was really the most surprising ninja he ever met. He didn't care what others would think, unless they were his precious people, and he did not need to copy anyone, he was strong on his own.

Lee admired and worshipped Gai–sensei, but maybe he needed to start showing his own self as well… being a copy of someone else was not a good thing, not if he erased what he was to be like that other person…

"Naruto–kun, just as you said, let's become great ninja together! Friends stick with each other forever!" he exclaimed, smiling at him. "I'll show everyone my true burning self by changing as well! We'll to it together!"

Naruto smiled back at him.

……………………………………………

"Hey, Naruto, Lee!" Neji waved at them trying not to attract attention on himself; his eyes were already too noticeable in such environment, and he did not want to blow his cover, so he kept his eyes lowered on the ground as he called for his friends.

Naruto and Lee turned around, and almost died for the sight; they had been used to a white dressed Neji, in noble clothes (that much was apparent by his family status), but now he looked…

"Shit Neji, you look normal now!" Naruto commented smirking at the raven, staring at him up and down to see his reaction.

Neji had abandoned the ninja clothes for something less recognizable, simple villager's robes in dark earthy colours. Naruto was not fooled by this, because he could see the weapon pouch hidden behind the folds on his leg pants.

Shikamaru was similarly dressed, his fishnet shirt gone to be replaced with a more normal looking grey shirt.

"In order not to alert the Kusa–nin about Ame and Konoha's alliance, for the moment, we have not to make them recognize us as ninja, especially not during this mission" Neji explained as he handed some clothes to the other two. "Tsunade–sama recommended secrecy, and we don't want to start a war –that is mostly why this mission is so high ranked".

Naruto nodded in understanding, taking the clothes and smiling at Neji, "I'll go change out of the village, so no one will see –Lee, are you coming?"

"In a moment, Naruto–kun" Lee replied. "I want to ask something to Neji".

Naruto shrugged and moved away.

"Is there something wrong, Lee?" Neji turned towards him.

Lee shook his head; he didn't want to break Naruto's trust by telling the other two about their speech, but Neji and Shikamaru were also Naruto's friends, and Lee felt compelled. Besides, Naruto's slip when speaking about his former team would maybe help them understand –and Lee knew Neji was smarter than he himself was.

When he finished speaking, both the raven and the brown haired teen stood in silence for a moment; they were not stupid, they knew it had everything to do with Sasuke's attempted defection, and about what had happened between the two of them, Naruto and Sasuke, when no one else was there.

"We can't do anything if Naruto doesn't want to tell us, but we can be there for him" Neji assured the others. "He deserves our friendship".

Lee smiled and followed Naruto out of the village, feeling considerably lighter now that he'd expressed his perplexities to his friends.

Neji turned towards Shikamaru once Lee disappeared from sight.

"What do you think?"

"It's too troublesome. If Naruto wants to keep silent, it means he's not yet ready to face it himself. We can't force it out of him, or he won't trust us anymore" Shikamaru shook his head. "I suggest we finish this mission and go back home. We are his friends. That's enough".

Neji's lips twitched upwards for a moment.

"Yeah" he replied. Then he turned serious again. "Let's go".

The two moved towards their friends.

……………………………………………

"Yo!"

Sasuke turned a bit towards the voice, almost groaning out as he noticed who it was; Kakashi was standing there with his usual cheery smile, his mask hiding his face but not the curving of his lips. His single eye was sparkling a bit, but there was something in there that Sasuke could not understand nor recognize.

Something was amiss, but he decided not to dwell on it.

Kakashi had been visiting him for a while, just like Sakura had, but the raven had never said a word to them, too busy thinking and understanding and feeling guilty for his actions to even think about speaking to them; now, he'd solved out whatever his problems were, and he was determined in changing everything that had gone wrong until now.

He wanted to keep on fighting to get his revenge, but he was not willing anymore to lose some important part of his life; he didn't want anymore to die after Itachi was killed. It could take him all life to win over his brother, but he was not in a hurry anymore.

He didn't want to live only for the sake of revenge for his family; he wanted to live and for now, his priority had changed –he wanted Naruto's trust back.

He knew he would get stronger with time, because he believed strongly in his own capacities, but right now, nothing was more important to him than Naruto and their friendship.

"Kakashi–sensei" he stated.

His voice was a bit rough, raspy, because he'd spoken rarely and only with Tsunade and some ANBU guards. They still didn't trust him enough to let him roam free, not before locking completely his curse mark.

The silver haired shinobi was a bit startled by finally hearing Sasuke speaking to him, but he couldn't say he was displeased. With all the things that were happening, at least there was also something good.

Kakashi had always been good in telling what people thought, even if he'd been wrong with Naruto, and had been wrong with Sasuke, not managing to see the truth behind their acting before it was too late, and now wasn't an exception.

He could not read Sasuke's stare towards him. It was unreadable and Kakashi didn't like it. Before, Sasuke had been easy to read, and he wanted things to go back to that time. Kakashi wondered if his own blindness had hurt his students so much it had forced them to close off from him.

"Sasuke, it's good to see you speaking to me again, I was feeling neglected" he smiled again, but his sarcastic words had some truth behind them. he was glad and guilty Naruto did not hate him, and he was now glad Sasuke was speaking to him… and even more so in hearing Sasuke call him sensei.

Sasuke had never showed any respect for him before.

Kakashi could still hope everything would solve, even if slowly.

"Kakashi–sensei, I…" Sasuke bit his lip and looked away. It felt wrong for him, the words he wanted to say were not coming out.

But this time, Kakashi understood.

"Get well soon, Sasuke, will you? And I am not the one you should apologize to" he smiled again, but this time his tone was serious. Sasuke knew what he meant.

Kakashi was warning him, subtly, and he got the advice.

The two stared at each other in the eyes, and Kakashi could see it. This Sasuke was not the same one that abandoned the village for power. This Sasuke was guilty for what he did, and wanted nothing more than get back Naruto.

Kakashi hoped he could get his friend back, because Naruto deserved it.

"See yah!"

Kakashi poofed away. Sasuke was left staring at the place his sensei had been, feeling relieved. Kakashi was not acting with him like nothing was wrong, but at the same time he was not shunning him out, and it felt good, at least someone was giving him a second chance.

"I was really stupid…" he muttered. "Giving up myself was not worthy it".

"Sasuke–kun!"

Sasuke flinched, but he could not move, for how irrationally he wanted to run away from her; it was true that Sakura was his teammate, and that she cared deeply for him, but he didn't think of her as anything but an annoying bother.

She was just like every other girl in Konoha, childish and fixated over him in her stupid crush. She could not see he didn't like her in the same way, and she could not take the hint and leave him alone. She would have been a great person, but she was selfish and arrogant.

Besides, she hurt Naruto too, and even though Sasuke knew the major blame was to be put on him, she had her part on that too. She had done nothing to help the blond, not even with words.

All she cared about was win over Sasuke's heart, but the Uchiha could not care. He didn't have any feelings for her more than a possible friendship, she was not important to him… not enough for him to love her.

If anything, with her current behaviour she was making a fool out of herself, and he hated her. The fact that she never spoke of Naruto when she came and remained for hours was even more taxing on Sasuke, because he'd not heard a single word of his teammate ever since his reclusion.

More so, Sasuke felt anger towards her because she didn't blame him for what had happened.

Sasuke was not a masochist, nor a sadist (even though he _was_ a bit emo, or had been before snapping out of his delusions) but he knew he had wronged his friend in the worst way.

Kakashi knew, and even though the Jounin had spoken to him in a way that assured the teen he was being forgiven, the silver haired man had showed Sasuke he expected him to work hard for get back Naruto's trust.

Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, knew, and her glares towards him were enough that even someone like Sasuke was afraid of her.

Iruka knew, and even though Iruka (just like Naruto) had never hated someone before, his eyes had told Sasuke just how much he despised his actions.

But Sakura… Sakura treated him as if he had been the one wronged. Not Naruto, but him. As if betraying Naruto, and Konoha, and trying to take off to Orochimaru were not deathly mistakes but simply misinformation, or something trivial.

Once again the pink haired girl had acted like a child, ignoring the obvious truth for her own crush. She was weak, and blind, and obsessed.

Sasuke would face every punishment he was to get because he deserved them.

"Good morning, Sasuke–kun!" the pink haired kunoichi chirped entering the room, a huge plate filled with cookies in her hands. "I have these for you, I hope you will like them!"

Sasuke did not want her here.

He wanted Naruto.

It pained him to know that he would be blocked under surveillance for an entire month, and he would not be able to see Naruto, but he could wait.

He would wait.

Sasuke was going to get Naruto's trust back, even if it would take years. Naruto was the only thing he deemed worthy in Konoha. He would give Naruto all the attention he had not given him before, he would help him and he would apologize, to hell with his pride. Naruto was more important than his pride.

Sakura was still happily chatting next to him, and Sasuke stared at her. He didn't like her. He had barely accepted her as a teammate, but he could not make himself like her as anything more, not even a friend. Not now. Not if she kept on acting like this.

"Sakura, shut up" he told her.

Sakura stood frozen for a moment before she squealed in delight, happy Sasuke had spoken to her. He was glaring at her, yes, but it was probably because he had a headache and she was talking too loudly.

"Sorry, Sasuke–kun" she smiled at him, ignoring his glare.

She'd been training with Ino for a hour before she had decided to come back to Sasuke, cooking him something good. She knew he cared for her, after all, she was sure her true love would soon see her the same way.

"How is Naruto?"

Sakura blinked at the question and shook her head a bit, not knowing why her Sasuke would bring up that kind of subject. She did not care, Naruto was good on his own, and even though he'd taken Sasuke back, Sasuke was still stronger.

Probably it wasn't even Naruto the one who took Sasuke back, probably Sasuke had thought about what Sakura said him and he returned on her behalf… yeah, it was surely that way.

Naruto was strong, Sakura could admit that, but he was stupid and childish and he was weaker than her Sasuke–kun, and besides, that jerk never came to see if Sasuke was ok… Sakura felt furious about that _'and he calls himself Sasuke's friend, stupid Naruto'_.

"You shouldn't care for him Sasuke–kun, care for your health," she told him sweetly, smiling in a way she thought to be seducing. "He's not here, after all, but I am! So, tell me, how–"

"Sakura, how is _Naruto_?" Sasuke stressed his name, feeling angered at her.

"I… I don't really know, Sasuke–kun," she smiled again, even though her smile wavered a bit at his dark glare. "I didn't see him since he went off to take you back".

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her in shock. So it was real, she went to see him every singly fucking day, but she hadn't even spared a glance for Naruto, the one who took Sasuke back.

"Go away" he growled at her.

"Huh?" she stared at him with surprised eyes, that slowly turned into a hurt expression. "Sasuke–kun" she tried to smile, a bit unsurely, but his growl intensified.

"Go away, I don' t want you here" he spat out.

He didn't care if no one would come anymore until he was out, but he could not stand to be in the same room with someone like her. He had thought Sakura would grow out of her stupid crush for him and start acting like a friend, but it was not happening.

He didn't want someone like her.

Sakura sniffled, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. "But Sasuke–kun, why would you care about him? I come here every day to keep you company, and he never, not even once–"

"I'd prefer to be alone rather than with someone like you" he replied.

Seeing her run away crying was not as satisfying as he thought it would be, but he was furious with her; his head felt clear and he could think now, and he realized he was feeling protective over the dobe.

Sighing, Sasuke looked outside the window of the room again. he had not meant to be _this_ mean, but there were things that still needed to be settled.

Closing his eyes, he fell in a restless sleep.

He would wait. It hurt him to wait, but there was nothing else to do.

……………………………………………

**StarsOfYaoi:** thanks for reading, now what about dropping me a review? And sorry if this was so late.

Someone asked for this to be an Mpreg later on. I don't think I will do it, but you're still free to comment on this. Maybe I will write one in another fic if I get enough positive feedback.

Shamelessly publicizing of my own works, I've started a collection of ItaNaru lemon shots on AFF. The link is in my BIO page if you want to have a look... XD

Ta no Kami (田の神) – Spirit God of the Field. As opposed to the Yama no Kami (山の神), the Spirit God of the Mountain. Kami are gods for the Shinto religion, and in ancient Japan smaller villages usually created a shrine to devote themselves to the Kami; I won't go into detail, but if you want more info on this, you can ask. I studied this at univ and it was one of my favourite lessons.


	5. Absurd

**Thanks to all the people that reviewed me! But please don't ask me to update soon. I mean, when you review with only 'update soon', it's not helpful to us authors, instead it puts much pressure on us. Especially if one asks me to update soon ten minutes after I posted the new chapter. And if we authors work hard on our fics, you could eventually spend a minute doing some good criticism and comment in a review.**

**StarsOfYaoi:** sorry if I told you Sasuke would find out in this one, but I couldn't rush with Naruto's first Chuunin mission, right? Next chapter, I promise it'll be in the next chapter.

……………………………………………

**Rating**: T

**Summary:** (SasuNaru, NejiShika, InoTen, eventually LeeSaku) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncovered and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.

**Warnings:** yaoi, boy x boy relationship, **_angsty_**, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.

**Disclaimer**: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

……………………………………………

**Normality**

**Chapter 04: Absurd**

Naruto glared hard at Neji, all the while balancing a huge pile of rocks in both of his hands. He was having hard time keeping steady as he moved.

"Are you sure I need to do this whilst we go back to Konoha?"

Neji let a smirk appear on his face and did not turn around, "of course, Naruto… I know you don't think this is a good strategy, but you realize that we are all trying to help you right?"

Naruto's reply to this was a huff, but he soon fell into silence again, focusing his attention on his teammates instead of what he was holding. Neji had been perfectly clear –he had to get used to multitasking, to make it easier to fight and still concentrate on their surroundings.

The mission had gone perfectly well, much to Naruto's disappointment; there had been no enemy ninja who tried to stop them, and there had been no fight at all.

The four had reached the shrine, not attracting any unwanted attention thanks to their camouflage, and had set down a trap for the Kusa–nins, thought they didn't need it as the Ame–nins had arrived without complications. Neji had received the scroll and without further ado they had moved to get back to Konoha.

They knew that they would not be completely safe until they reached their village, but as of now the mission was going smoothly enough for Neji to relax his tense shoulders a bit.

He'd decided he could give Naruto some light training to do during the trip that would not keep his mind occupied, but had soon realised it took nothing for Naruto to end up distracted; he needed to pay attention more than he was used to, and the only way was to teach him to multitask.

Thus the reason why Naruto was jumping from tree to tree with two piles of rocks precariously balanced in his arms.

Neji and Shikamaru couldn't but smirk at the amusing show the blond was doing, knowing that, had it been them, they would have easily complied without strain the task; unfortunately for Naruto, at least judging by what Lee told them, he'd not been trained enough by Kakashi.

Neji felt really angered by this. Even though Gai–sensei wasn't really what one could call a proper teacher (rambling about youth, flames and doing strange bets with himself wasn't exactly normal), he'd always been serious when training them.

The Hyuuga grudgingly respected his teacher, having realized a long time ago that Gai had reasons for acting this strange.

Gai–sensei had taught him much about teamwork, how to rely on your teammates and have them rely on you (though the whole friend business had only started to appear when Naruto had defeated him during the Chuunin exams).

Neji had studied his clan's scrolls as much as he could, but many attacks, Genjutsu and Taijutsu had been taught to him by his sensei, that looked good at almost everything.

Gai and Kakashi were equally strong, despite their blatant differences, but the way they worked with their team was completely opposite. Kakashi, by what he'd gathered, had taught Naruto nothing but tree–walking, and had done it only after months of D–rank missions.

Neji had been taught tree–walking by Gai–sensei on their second day, followed by water–walking and basic Taijutsu.

Ok, Team Gai had been together for a year when they had entered the Chuunin exams, but still comparing Team 7's strength with Team Gai's when they had been starters, the gape holes were enormous.

Besides, even though Gai trained Lee more than he did TenTen and Neji himself, both teens knew it was because Lee could not use chakra and needed special training to help him cope without taking down the whole team's balance.

Gai did not prefer one of them over the other in training, he trained them all equally.

Kakashi had trained Sasuke for the Chuunin exams, paying more attention to him and dropping off both the pink haired girl (what was her name again? something about flowers…) and Naruto, that had needed more of this attention than Sasuke had.

What for, in the end? Sasuke had the Sharingan, yes, and Kakashi was the only one still loyal to the village that could use it too, but relying too much on his bloodline was a mistake –Neji himself had used his kekkai Genkai too much in the past and now was learning how to fight without using it as much as before, finding he had no problems even without the Byakugan.

And Sasuke knew many jutsu from his family scrolls, whilst Naruto and the girl didn't have a proper training as shinobi.

Neji sighed. Now Naruto would be trained by them all as much as they could, and he would get help from Gai too, the moment the Green Beast of Konoha heard what his 'rival' did.

Looking at the brown–dressed Naruto, Neji frowned. What strengths could he reach now that he had someone to help him out, now that he was seeing his right path?

Neji shook his head and shared a look with Shikamaru, who shrugged in response; the two had been getting good at communicating without words, just by glances, and Neji found he likes this turn of things.

He'd been kind of unsure of how this team would work out, but they were only at their first mission and they were already cooperating like a team of friends, instead of a team of strangers.

Naruto jumped over a branch, evading some leaves that were on his way, and smiled as he started to get used to keep an eye on both the rocks and his surroundings. It wasn't as hard as he first thought, and he was having a bit of fun, too.

Shikamaru sighed. He would have never thought that Naruto would look this different with a simple change of clothes; he'd thought that it could not take so little to change him into a more shinobi–looking person, but…

Naruto took it seriously this time; he looked, if possible, even more determined than before. His eyes were burning with something different than the usual flame he had, but he had not lost his brightness either.

He was growing up, and Shikamaru was glad of it. His acting before had been too troublesome, this new Naruto was…

"Naruto, look out for–"

Too late, Shikamaru snickered. Naruto had tripped on a small bump on a branch and had dropped all his rocks on the ground.

… well, this Naruto was growing.

It took a while for him and Neji to get used to Lee and Naruto's new appearance, considering they had been the ones to get a hold of some proper clothes for them to wear and not attract any attention, but eventually they kind of did.

Without his spandex, that left nothing to imagination, Lee actually looked a completely different person. He had a brown shirt and a pair of black–ish pants, and with his green jacket on he didn't look half as bad as before.

His hair, ruffled and untamed, gave him a more wild appearance, opposite to his usual good guy look, even though his attitude was still the same as before, and even his eyebrows didn't look as big as they had with his bowl–hairstyle.

Naruto himself was different, even though not hard to recognize (blond hair and whiskers could not be changed like a shirt); with a brown shirt and dark grey pants he had lost what made him appear like a giant neon sign to enemies, without losing his happiness or inner light though.

He was still Naruto, just dressed more like a serious ninja.

Neji was glad that the change of clothes did nothing to tame both of his friends' attitude.

"Aah, damnit, I thought I was getting good!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking his fists in the air.

"you were busy thinking you were getting good to actually concentrate on what you were doing" Neji smarted him out. "Come on, go down and get the rocks, we have to move".

Naruto was about to comply, when his ears picked up something.

Slowly gritting his teeth, the blond sniffed in the air, copying Kiba's acting –Kyuubi's presence into him enhanced some of his senses after all– and a moment later he jumped next to Neji, his face suddenly serious.

"Neji, someone's following us" he reported.

This stopped both Shikamaru and Lee, who had been moving forwards already.

"Thanks Naruto" Neji nodded, activating his Byakugan. With the help of his bloodline, he stared in the direction they were coming from and noticed ten figures making their way towards them. He didn't need to be a genius to understand they were Kusa–nins. "They're getting near fast, we need to think of a way to slow them down, if we don't want to fight against them".

There was no way Neji could know if the chasers were Chuunin or Jounin level, and he knew he could not prejudge the mission by taking a wild guess. They would not fight if they didn't have to.

Calculating the speed of the enemies, Neji realized there was no way for them to be able to run faster. They were bound to prepare for an ambush, or a trap, if they wanted to survive the chase.

"Shikamaru, your opinion?" Neji turned towards the Nara, unsurprised to see him in his usual thinking position.

After a moment, the brown haired teen snapped his eyes open.

"Naruto, do you think you'd be able to hide your chakra for a short while? I know you haven't been taught how to do it yet, but it's not as hard as you think" he asked.

Naruto blinked.

"I can try" he promised.

"Well, then, I want you to form Kage Bunshin and have them henge as us" Shikamaru continued.

He had been the one with the scroll, since Neji had trusted him with it, and now he took it out from his pouch and handed it to Naruto.

"Hold onto this, I'll explain you my plan".

……………………………………………

"They're right in front of us, and they didn't seem to have noticed we're following them" one of the Kusa–nin moved backwards to speak with the group leader, who nodded lightly to signal he'd been listening.

"By their chakra level, they are Genin, low Chuunin at the most" he replied curtly. "Strange, what kind of mission did Ame think it was, for them to send just some Genin to take care of it?"

With a flicker of his hand the man motioned for three of his followers to split from the main group, signalling them to move to the right to take the four they thought to be Ame–nin by surprise with a double–sided attack.

He had no intention to fail this mission, since Ame needed to be reminded of who was the boss –Kusa would soon own Amegakure, and get strong enough to challenge one of the main countries.

A flicker of chakra in front of them made the leader stop in his tracks. They had reached the four teens, who were running forwards in the trees, and he could clearly see they were really young –Genin, most certainly.

'_That's even too easy for us'_ he thought.

He flared his own chakra, and in a second the four were completely surrounded by his group; a blond kid took out a kunai and prepared himself for a reckless attack, but he stepped forwards, motioning for his group to keep their eyes on the teens.

No need to kill them if they could get the scroll with a bit of persuasion. They were simply kids, after all.

"If you give up the scroll now, we won't hurt you" he stated clearly, moving forwards to stare at what was obviously the leader of the team –a strange kid with long black hair, a feminine face and white eyes.

Was this one blind?

Or was it some kind of strange bloodline?

"I refuse" the kid replied sternly, looking at him with scornful eyes. "Let us go before we seriously hurt you".

'_My, my, surely they have guts… but ego–inflated kids are really a bother'_ he thought with a smirk.

The blond teen lifted his kunai, "Did you hear what he said? Bug off, you piece of–"

"Naruto, shut up" a brown haired teen hissed.

Aah, Genin. They didn't even get along with each other… Ame really didn't have any good shinobi at all, if their Genin were trained this badly. Besides, they didn't even have hitai–ate on them, and were dressed like villagers.

"But we will never give those stupid weaklings the scroll!" the blond yelled out.

"I repeat, give us your scroll and we will let you go" the leader of the Kusa–nin repeated, this time stressing the words.

He was starting to get pissed off.

"And I repeat, we refuse" the black haired teen replied again.

"Then, you die" the man stated calmly.

The rest of the Kusa shinobi didn't need further encouragement, as they all jumped towards the four teens; the leader sighed, wishing they had relented when he'd asked them too… he hated killing young shinobi, even if they were as weak as those four were.

Their chakra was so low…

Suddenly smoke circled the ten Kusa–nins, followed by four distinct popping sounds, and the four teens disappeared into nothing.

"What… Bunshin?" the shinobi looked around in shock, not understanding what had happened. Those were not the real…

A sudden flare of chakra coming from behind them made the leader of the group spin around in shock –they had been fooled?!

Now that the four Bunshin had vanished, the group of Kusa shinobi could feel distinctly well four retreating chakra signals that were quickly running away East respect their previous direction, probably knowing they had managed to blind the followers this way.

'_I have to admit, they are better than I thought'_ the leader thought as he signalled his group to start the chase again.

Hiding their presence using four Bunshin injected with a small amount of chakra, the four teens had escaped, putting more distance between them and the Kusa–nins, but the man was not afraid of losing them.

"Let's go!" he ordered, moving first.

This time he would not give them a chance. Whoever had the guts to try and fool him would not live to see the next day.

The meadow stood quiet after the Kusa–nins disappeared, following the trail of chakra that was left by the four teens; after a while, when the presence of the ten shinobi had disappeared, and there was no more rustling of leaves, one by one three small squirrels exited from their hiding places and sniffed in the air, twitching their tails.

Deeming the danger finally gone, one of the three re–entered the hole he'd been hiding into and pushed a scroll out of it.

A second later the squirrels were gone in a puff of smoke, and Naruto and the other two teens were in their place.

"Jeez, Shikamaru, that was one hell of a plan!" Naruto stretched his shoulders happily and picked up the scroll from the ground, pocketing it away with a satisfied smirk.

Shikamaru's smirk was just as satisfied as Naruto's, as he too stretched before slumping down once more.

Shikamaru's plan had been quite simple, and it required absolutely no preparation; Naruto had created two sets of clones of himself, making two of them henge as Neji and Shikamaru and one as Lee, then the three of them had henged into small squirrels, hiding the scroll with them in the meadow.

Since Lee could not transform himself, he'd followed the fake Neji, Shikamaru and Naruto, heading East whilst a copy of each of them flared their chakra a bit to attract the enemies. With this double back–up, the Kusa–nins had no chance but to fall for their trap.

"For how long are you comfortable with keeping up the Kage Bunshin?" Neji asked, turning worriedly to Naruto.

No one really thought about it much, but that was a jutsu that took a lot of chakra from the user, and yet Naruto had no problems using it for long periods of time.

"Since I have to keep their chakra stable but low, I can do it for at least a hour, if the Kusa–nin don't get there first" the blond replied with a foxy–smirk.

"That's enough for us to put at least a day between ourselves and them" Neji commented. "Naruto, proceed with the second part of the plan now".

"Yosh!" Naruto concentrated and flared a small amount of chakra to his clones henged as Shikamaru and Neji.

He'd noticed that when one of his Kage Bunshin poofed out from existence, he would get all the memories of it, so he would use this at his advantage.

A second later he could feel a rush of flashes appear in his mind and he quickly went over it.

"One of my clones used Kage Bunshin to create a copy of Lee and himself and dispelled the jutsu" he reported. "Lee's coming back now".

They had no fear for their friend –since he could not mould any chakra, the enemies would not be able to sense him and he could join the three of them without problems by taking a longer detour.

"Let's go," Neji ordered his friends, and the three moved forwards, directed to Konoha.

……………………………………………

"You accomplished your first mission without a fault, congratulations" Tsunade allowed herself a proud smile as she complimented the team of Chuunin she had in front of her desk.

Her eyes could not look away from Naruto and Lee throughout her speech though, as she was not used in seeing them dressed like normal people at all; both Naruto and Lee looked… looked… she could not find a word for her thoughts.

Strange, maybe.

Too normal to be really them.

"Thanks Tsunade–sama," Neji bowed a bit to her. "We had no trouble whatsoever during our trip".

"Fine, you're dismissed now" she replied, stomping their mission report. "Take this to the mission centre and get your pay… ah, Naruto, could you please stay for a moment? Your friends can go if they want to".

"With all respect due, Hokage–sama, we would like to stay if it concerns Naruto's secret" Shikamaru replied blinking in boredom.

Naruto stared at them with a shocked face, but Tsunade simply smiled at them. she had planned to ask the blond when he would tell his team about Kyuubi, and she had her answer already.

"Indeed, it's about it, yes" she admitted. She was glad to see they had been taking it pretty well. "So I take he's told you everything?"

Neji nodded quietly.

"I think you are aware that there is a reason why no one of your generation knows, right?" Tsunade leaned on her hands, elbows on the desk. Her eyes were serious.

"Of course, Tsunade–sama!" Lee replied candidly. "But we'd never betray Naruto–kun's trust!"

Neji shook his head slightly, amused by this Lee that didn't look like Lee at all.

"Well then, I trust you will use as much reserve as any other adult that knows of it… only Naruto has the right to tell someone about Kyuubi," she pointed towards Naruto, who was grimacing and looking away.

"I am glad he decided to tell us" Neji replied steadily, making the others in the room look at him. "It means he trusts us enough to share something this painful with us".

Naruto smiled slightly, feeling warm inside in hearing Neji speak this way.

"It's too troublesome anyway" Shikamaru glared at nothing in particular and was smacked in the back by Lee.

"Shikamaru–kun, stop being this apathetic! Life needs to be lived youthfully and happily!"

Shikamaru groaned.

"Well then, we'll be going" Naruto smiled at the Hokage. "Bye, Tsunade obaa–chan!"

"Disrespectful–" she sighed in defeat, Naruto was already gone. The other three bowed lightly and followed him out, with not well–hidden smirks on their lips.

After the door closed behind them, Tsunade sighed and turned towards the window. "Do you think he's doing well?" she asked.

The figure that had been hiding outside of the office's window did not reply, white hair swinging into the wind as he watched the four teens race down the street. He'd been present to the short conversation, but had been following the newly–formed team ever since they reached Konoha after their first mission together.

Naruto had looked… peaceful. There was a new light in his eyes that he'd been missing in the last few weeks, and it put his heart at ease.

"Yes…" he muttered, scratching his chin with one hand. "But I can't predict what his future will be right now".

"Jiraiya, you're always the same" Tsunade sighed again. Every time she saw Naruto, she had the sudden need to drown herself with sake.

……………………………………………

"What are you guys going to do now?" Naruto pocketed his money with a very satisfied expression and turned to his friends. He'd earned a lot for a relatively easy mission and was quite proud.

"If you're thinking about ramen, forget it" Shikamaru commented. "After four days out of the village, I need a long bath, a change of clothes and some real food… like barbecued meat… troublesome, I'll invite Chouji if he's free from the academy".

"I need a bath too" Neji wrinkled his nose in delicate distaste. "I can't stand missions' food cans either".

Lee nodded happily, "I want to tell everything to Gai–sensei!" and Naruto sighed. He'd hoped that maybe they'd like to spend some time with him. But after all, they had their own lives, and he–

"Fine then, we will meet in front of the barbecue restaurant in a hour, is that ok for you Naruto?"

Naruto blinked and snapped out from his thoughts. "What?"

"I said we're not getting ramen, but is barbecue ok?" Shikamaru asked again. "What a troublesome guy… we will also need to get you and Lee some decent clothes afterwards".

Naruto blushed lightly, feeling quite bad he'd doubted his friends… but really, for them to want to spend some time with him…

Team 7 rarely spent times together outside of their training sessions and the missions… Sakura would go off cooing over Sasuke, and the Uchiha would either go to train alone or ask for Naruto to train with him, leaving afterwards without a word.

Naruto smiled brightly at his friends.

"Ah, of course! But let's get ramen tomorrow, ok?"

Shikamaru smirked at him.

Naruto watched his friends disappear in three different directions with a small smile, before deciding to head to his house as well; he needed a bath too now that he thought about it, and then he wanted to go and tell Iruka–sensei everything about his first real mission.

Half an hour later Naruto left his apartment again. Unfortunately the clothes he'd been wearing during the missions were not for ninja, so they were all ruined and dirty, and he had to resort to search through his own to see if he had anything less eye–blinding.

After a bit he was surprised but satisfied to find a pair of black pants and a white shirt. They were not exactly the most comfortable thing he had, since he'd never used them before (he didn't even know he owned them until now) but they would suit him until he burned his orange clothes for something more ninja–like.

Who said he couldn't keep his bright attitude with less bright clothes? They would only make a better ninja out of him.

He didn't want to change who he was, because it was his nindo, but he also wanted to grow. He could resort to being serious during missions, but in his own life, he was still Naruto. No one could change this, not even… not even…

Shaking his head to banish dark thoughts that he didn't like having, Naruto decided to get to the barbecue restaurant and wait there for his friends; he would probably bug them for a bit so they would come with him to eat ramen the next day…

Smiling brightly thinking about ramen, Naruto skipped down the street, ignoring some glares coming from the villagers.

"Naruto?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned around, his smile dimming slightly as he noticed who it was…

"Ino?"

He felt something pull at his chest and faltered a bit. He didn't like the feeling.

"Hey, Naruto!" Ino was standing there with a smile on her face, and after a second she approached him.

The two had never been friends, so it confused him a bit as to what she would want from him now, smiling like this…

"Naruto, listen, I wanted to speak to you for a moment, are you free now?" her smile faltered a bit and he nodded. He still had some time before meeting with Shikamaru and the others, so…

It was only then that he realized something. Ino had been in team with Shikamaru and Chouji, but because Naruto had wanted to leave Team 7, now she was in his place. He had ruined the balance of not just one, but three teams for his own needs, and suddenly he felt bad for this.

What if Ino didn't want to stay in the same team as Sakura was? What if…

"I'm–" he opened his mouth to tell Ino he was sorry for having forced her to move from one team to another, but he couldn't finish his thought because Ino turned towards him too and spoke before he could.

"Naruto, I am sorry that you had to leave your team" she said.

Naruto blinked in shock and stared at her, not understanding. Why was Ino saying she was sorry? She had no reason to…

"You don't have to–" he tried again, but she stopped him.

"No, really. I don't know what has happened that forced you to leave them, but… I am sure of one thing". Ino shrugged lightly, trying to lift his mood. "If it was bad enough for you to ask to be placed with Shikamaru, then you had to be desperate".

Smiling lightly at the joke, Naruto walked down the street with Ino at his side. For a moment both of them were silent, then Ino sighed.

"Naruto, I don't blame you for making me switch teams. I spoke with Kakashi–sensei, and I am ok with it" she stated, her voice sounding steady to his ears.

"Really? Because… I caused so much confusion and…"

"No, really. Besides, you did nothing wrong, and I should pity you instead. You got placed with Shikamaru and I know how lazy he can be… he gets so boooooring… really, I do pity you" she smiled brightly at him, and he felt his lips tug forwards as well. "He surely won't move an inch during missions… and what about a stuck up guy like the Hyuuga, and Lee? Yeah, I pity you so much".

But she was laughing whilst saying this, obviously joking. She liked both Neji and Lee, even though she'd never really spoke to them, but she'd seen them fight and speak and they were both good persons.

Ino tried to change the subject. "Say, have you spoken to Sakura recently?"

Naruto shook his head, not really understanding where the conversation was going.

"Er… no, not really… we never saw when I was at the hospital, and right after I had my first mission with my… team".

He felt suddenly very uncomfortable, and looked away.

Sakura was Ino's friend, had always been, but she was stupid, blinded by her own foolishness. Naruto was a great person, and Sakura had never realized this. Ino either, at least until now.

Ino could now clearly see that she had been stupid. She had always thought Naruto was a stupid and clueless guy, by how he'd acted at the academy, his pranks, his obvious lack of knowledge in ninja matters, but she'd been proved wrong many times since his promotion to Genin.

He was a strong person and very determined, and he would do anything to protect his friends. Ino felt stupid, because she'd never wanted to be his friend. She'd never cared to learn about him more.

At first she'd thought Shikamaru and Chouji to be useless gits as well, in her blindly following the Uchiha around, but being in the same team with them for so much had made her change idea quickly enough. On both them and herself, too.

Shikamaru and Chouji were her friends, and Ino would do anything for them, if needed.

Now she could only agree with herself… she wanted to change. She wanted to become Naruto's friend as well, as she had realized Naruto was not so different from her.

"Say, Naruto…" she brushed the hair away from her face and met Naruto's curious stare.

She wanted to tell Naruto that she knew she had never paid attention to him, and that they couldn't be considered friends… she had been a real bitch to Naruto all this time. But she could not tell him this. She felt too bad for her attitude to voice it out her mistakes to him.

"I was wondering if… if there is still a chance for us to be friends" she decided to say instead, looking at him. "I am sorry, I was so conditioned about what others thought of you that I allowed myself to act like them…" she sighed, but them smiled at him. "I would really like to be your friend, Naruto".

Naruto blinked again.

"You do?"

Ino nodded eagerly. "Yeah".

He smiled brightly, his cheeks turning a bit pink.

"I'll be glad to be your friend too, Ino–chan!" he looked at his wrist watch and closed his eyes deep in thought. "Say, I was going to eat at the barbecue with Shikamaru, Lee, Neji and probably Chouji, what about coming with me?"

Ino smiled at him.

"Sure! Lead the way, I want to make sure Shika's not getting too lazy!"

He shook his head.

He was new to this sort of things, people actually admitting they wanted to be his friends, and he didn't know what to do, especially if it was a girl. He'd never really being a friend with a girl, apart Hinata, but she was quite strange, always blushing when he was around.

"So, did _you_ see Sakura?" he asked, walking towards the restaurant. He had wanted to speak of something, but he didn't realize what he'd uttered until the words were out of his lips.

He didn't really want to know. Not really. It would be better for him not to ask, either, but… he still couldn't bring himself to forget his old team.

"Ah… yes" Ino knew this wasn't exactly the best thing to speak about, but she couldn't deny him an answer. "She doesn't know you're not in her team anymore, she's been seeing Sasuke every day and…" _'shit!'_

This was not what she wanted to say, and she bit her tongue.

"Ah, sou ka…" Naruto coughed and looked away.

So Sakura didn't know yet. She didn't even care to know why he hadn't been around all this time.

He had to expect this, it was one of the reasons why he'd moved away.

"Naruto, she's been stupid, I know" Ino tried to remedy her mistake, but the blond Chuunin simply shrugged.

"Well, it's better this way" he murmured. He quickly tried to direct the conversation away from ex–Team 7. "Say, tomorrow I was thinking about training with Lee, if you want, you can join us!" he smiled at her, but Ino could see the hurt still present in his eyes.

'_Sakura, Sasuke, what have you done to him? Why did it come to this?'_ Ino felt helpless right now. She had the sudden urge to comfort Naruto, and this feeling was foreign to her. No one of her friends had looked this hopelessly sad and weak, and at the same time strong.

Naruto was strong, but he was hurt as well.

Ino was determined in becoming his friend even more now. How come she had never realized how good of a person Naruto was until now? Had she been so blind in her former crush over Sasuke to see anything that was around her?

"Come on, fox–boy!" she slapped his shoulder and placed her hands on her hips. "You're going to help me train, I'm getting lazy without a good partner to spar with!"

Naruto brightened up again.

"Of course! Maybe we can ask Neji to train with us too!" Naruto started rambling and Ino smiled. This was good.

The two teens had finally reached the barbecue restaurant, and were surprised to see not only Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee and Neji, but also the latter's ex–teammate, TenTen.

"Ah, Naruto!" Lee smiled at him. "We're going to buy some new clothes afterwards!"

"Hey, that's right, how come you're not wearing orange?" Ino asked, finally looking over the blond teen at her right. She didn't notice because she'd been more focused on speaking with him, but now she could see he was dressed very differently than normal.

"Ino? Ah, so troublesome" Shikamaru murmured, not sure how to take the girl's presence here.

"Ah, sorry guys, I met Ino–chan and thought it'd be cool to ask her to come here" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He turned to Ino. "Well, I think a good Chuunin can't wear orange, right? Besides, Neji will kill me if I put my green Chuunin vest on at the same time".

He'd seen his disgusted face and didn't really want to see it again. Neji with expressions on his face was scary.

"Well then, Naruto, Lee–san, I'm going to help you find something good!" Ino smirked, cracking her knuckles. Ah, the wonders of shopping and how it was able to cheer her up considerably.

She hadn't been able to do some in a long time, and she really needed some new shuriken, a book or two and some new clothes.

"Ah, then I won't bother to come" Shikamaru said, eyes widened. He'd been forced to go with Ino and Chouji for a shopping trip and still couldn't forget the pain in his back, legs and arms.

"Don't you dare ditch us!" Ino growled in his direction. "You're going to come, and you're going to like it!"

Shikamaru groaned and slammed his head against the nearest wall under the pained gaze of one Chouji and the slightly shocked one of Neji, Lee and TenTen.

"TenTen, hello!" Naruto greeted her. "Neji asked you to come along?"

The older teen was swinging a kunai in her fingers, and when Naruto turned to speak at her she launched it in the air and caught it with her palm open. "Ah, yeah, I wanted a break from my father" she smiled. "I think I can help too, later on…"

"Ah, by the way, I am Ino, Shikamaru's former teammate!" Ino moved forwards and grabbed TenTen's hand, shaking it fiercely. "You're the weapon expert right? I am not a weapon user, but I'd like to learn about it a bit!"

TenTen blinked at the blonde's actions then smiled at her. "No problem, maybe we can train together!"

Naruto laughed at the two girls as they started speaking about various weapons, and pushed the group in the restaurant, grabbing Chouji's arm and preventing him to go inside. Maybe to Ino everything was ok, but he wanted to be sure for the chubby teen it was fine too.

"Chouji…"

"Naruto, I don't blame anything on you" Chouji turned towards him, and closed his eyes threateningly. "But if you keep me from getting my meat, I will have something to hold as a grudge on you alright".

He then smiled, and Naruto smiled back.

"Let's go eat then! We can have it on Neji's too!" Naruto smirked devilishly.

Chouji mimicked his smirk, and a second later they were gone inside.

……………………………………………

**StarsOfYaoi:** dull chapter, but it was needed. Please drop me a review!


	6. Pain

**I NEED A BETA READER FOR THIS FIC. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, ****DO PM ME. PLEASE, DON'T IF YOU ARE NOT REALLY SURE YOU CAN TAKE UP THIS POSITION, OR IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GOOD GRAMMAR. REALLY, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR ME AND I WANT SERIOUSNESS. NOT JUST SOMEONE WHO USES WORD'S SPELLCHECK ON CHAPTERS. THAT I CAN DO MYSELF.**

**Thanks to all the reviewers! I love you!**** Look, longer chapter…**

**StarsOfYaoi:** Summer means more updates. Faster ones. As promised, in this chapter there is Team Seven's reaction to Naruto's absence. :3 trust me, you'll like.

……………………………………………

**Rating**: T

**Summary:** (SasuNaru, NejiShika, InoTen, eventually LeeSaku) Naruto is trying to forget his former team, busy in Chuunin missions. But as his past is left uncovered and many of his kind start to appear, old bonds are stretched to the maximum.

**Warnings:** yaoi, boy x boy relationship, _**angsty**_, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning as well.

**Disclaimer**: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

–**Flashbacks, memories, dreams–**

……………………………………………

**Normality**

**Chapter 05****: Pain**

Sasuke's eyes were fixed on the four masked ANBU around him, observing them as they stood silently, but he could not bring himself to glare at them. Even if their presence meant he would have no more privacy from now on, he knew they were simply doing what their mission required them to.

They had to control him, since he had almost betrayed Konoha.

Besides, even though he didn't like their presence one bit, it still meant he could leave the hospital, and that for him was good enough.

He had waited for this a whole month, heavily guarded, tied to the bed, only able to move a hour or so every day so not to lose the mobility of his body, with the sole constant companionship of the silent ANBU and sometimes of Kakashi –Sakura too, but still he didn't want to count her.

Shifting his eyes to the person that was sitting in front of him, Sasuke once again thanked his luck. Tsunade was speaking to him, explaining how his new 'freedom' would be.

Sasuke knew this was the best Hokage Konoha could have, and he was thankful. She was the best medic–nin in the five Countries, she had healed all his wounds, some of them aided by her chakra, some of them by the natural course of healing, so he would still be able to be a ninja, and she had been able to finish Kakashi's work on his cursed seal, with the help of the white haired man Naruto had seemed to fond of –two sets of small kanji around the black tattoo.

Sasuke had to admit that sometimes he still felt pangs and twinges coming from Orochimaru's seal now and then, but it was a distant pain, it never hindered his thoughts, it never clouded his mind. He was free.

For the first time in years, Sasuke's mind was blank. He had many things he should think about, like his revenge on Itachi, now that he could think without hatred blinding him, but he couldn't.

Itachi had never crossed his mind.

In the month he had been unable to move from his bed, constantly watched over, he had thought about everything. He could not let revenge take his life down the drain, and back to the darkness Orochimaru used as a hunting field.

He would get stronger. With age, training. He would not follow some futile chase of a power that would never be his own.

But over everything else, the thing he thought the most was Naruto. The words he would speak to the blond, how he could act…

Sasuke had tried so many times to picture Naruto in his mind, to analyse how he could act, but nothing could compare with the true one. He would have to throw away everything else in order to face Naruto and see on which ground they stood.

Where to go from there.

If Naruto didn't want to see him again… Sasuke had thought about that, too. The mere idea filled him with a massive pain, something fierce that stabbed him right in the heart. If Naruto really didn't want to see him again, Sasuke would not give up.

Naruto had not given up on him, he'd gone as far as to fight with him so to get him back.

Sasuke would do the same, it was a given.

Naruto was important. For the first time ever Sasuke realised it, and it had nothing to do with Mangekyou Sharingan or anything else. No. Naruto was his first friend. His teammate, the brother he'd longed for since… since Itachi's betrayal.

He could work. And live. Instead of waiting the moment he'd die after killing Itachi. He could have a life. A future, a present.

Naruto was part of all of this, he had to.

'_He's far too important for me to let him go'_ he knew it was a weakness, a selfish thing, but this time, he would not let go. He wanted Naruto at his side. The blond had helped him so much all this time, but… now it was Sasuke's duty to help him back.

Naruto became his first priority. Because without Naruto, Sasuke was nothing.

"You will be followed and monitored by this ANBU team for the next two months" Tsunade's voice called Sasuke back from the depths of his mind. The blonde had a vague idea of what he had been thinking about, and wasn't sure how to react.

Sasuke's eyes fixed on her again.

"In order to make sure Orochimaru's seal won't flare up unexpectedly, since you're still pretty unstable, and to test your 'renewed' loyalty towards Konoha, you will have to bear with that" she continued.

Looking down at the boy, Tsunade knew he was not a danger or a threat for the village anymore; his eyes were just like Naruto's when she had told him of his promotion. He was, somehow, a victim.

She was the Hokage though, and for how much she liked to run away from her duties to drink sake, she knew how to work –the Elders had still a partial influence on her decisions, but they could be overruled.

They had asked the Uchiha to be reinstated, but she had to be cautious. Even if she trusted the dark haired boy because she trusted Naruto, the Uchiha had still a long way to go to regain her complete respect, to prove himself worth of Naruto's own.

"You will be forced to complete two months of daily D–rank missions alongside with your usual team missions" her tone was cold, but her eyes showed a bit more warmth, and Sasuke caught on this. "You will be allowed to train only with your sensei's supervision or an eventual trustworthy person that will need the ANBU's approval and permission. All your moves will be controlled, you will only meet people in wide open spaces, until the two months end".

Sasuke allowed himself to nod respectfully, showing he was listening. Naruto had been close to this woman, and it meant she cared for the blond, thus the only reason she wasn't skinning him alive was Naruto's will.

"When the time period ends, you will be freed of any accuse" Tsunade finished. "Now, you're dismissed. I suggest you to go home and sleep. Your team will meet tomorrow morning at half past seven in your usual place".

Tsunade's eyes were flashing with some kind of warning, but Sasuke had trouble deciphering it. He frowned lightly, not understanding.

The Uchiha bit his lip hearing the Hokage's words –he had wanted to go see Naruto first thing after he left the hospital, but maybe it would be better to wait and meet him the next day, with the rest of his team.

This way he could see how Naruto reacted to his presence, before trying something in solitaire.

Besides, Naruto could think he just wanted to kill him again…

Nodding again, Sasuke bowed ever so slightly. "I understand, Tsunade–sama" he muttered quietly, looking at her in the eyes.

Tsunade felt a vein pop somewhere in her temple but hid it well. She knew he wasn't trying to be respectful, but was simply accepting the current situation and trying to use it to his own advantage…

Kids these days. Damn them all.

……………………………………………

Naruto stretched his back, wiping away the sweat from his forehead as he observed the training grounds around him with satisfied expression, his eyes slanted in his usual fox–face.

He had been training for the last couple of hours, and the results were far too clear for anyone to see –the ground was filled with holes, many trees surrounding the place were not… quite there anymore, or simply had been taken down by some jutsu, and even most of the grass had been sent flying everywhere in the fit of the battle.

Tsunade would probably pop a vein at the sight of the Training Ground Five after his sparring matches with Ino, Neji, TenTen and Lee, but she would cope with it –he hoped.

To be completely honest with himself, this was not the first time he had reduced a training ground in something like this, and Tsunade had never accepted it without punching him through a wall… but one could always hope, right?

In the last month he had been training really hard, completely focusing on re–learning what he didn't know, with his team and some random added bonus, Ino and TenTen. The blonde had been serious with her request to train with them, whilst the older girl had simply wanted to get better at other styles of fighting that did not involve weaponry. Her father was a master of ninja weapons, but seriously lacked in other departments, and TenTen's goal was to stop relying so much on them.

A month, a single month, and Naruto felt he'd entered a new phase of his life. It felt so different from before, maybe even more exciting. The missions were not discussed by Tsunade with Kakashi, and then delivered to them at their meeting point, but given off to them equally.

There was time left to train, and Naruto felt he was really improving –with his teammates confiding in his strength, and not pushing him off but helping him as he helped them.

The first thing that had changed was his clothing, of course. Dropping away his orange, finally admitting it couldn't but hinder him while ambushing (and it had been quite the shock, too, to learn the reason he had been unable to properly ambush was his choice of dressing colours), he had picked on milder clothes.

The day Ino and TenTen had forced all the team to go in a shopping spree, Naruto had truly understood the horrors of going from one shop to the other, watching the two kunoichi sift through tons of ninja clothing for himself and Lee, feeling much like a puppet.

Seven hours non–stop.

It had been hell, Naruto knew it, but at the same time… he spent time with his friends, and he had never felt happier.

–**Start Flashback–**

"Naruto, please, stop complaining about it" Ino said merrily, smiling as she held her bags at her sides, glaring at Shikamaru who was trying to sneak away.

"But Ino–chan, I mean, I've got my clothes, why are we still here?" Naruto was almost afraid to know the answer to his question.

"Because, even though we found you some spare clothes, and Lee as well, we still need things! Why are you not happy, aren't you having fun?" both TenTen and Ino turned towards him with twin glares, almost daring him to deny.

Naruto grew pale and shook his head, "no! I mean, **yes**! It's fun!"

TenTen and Ino shared a knowing smile and turned around again, chatting happily about the best way to clean their weapons, whilst Naruto shared a pained look with Shikamaru.

Neji was grudgingly following them, since not even he could call himself out from his ex–teammate's wrath –TenTen knew what to do to make him pliant.

Even Lee and his unstoppable optimism had crumbled after the first four hours.

Even though, all of them had to admit that apart the shopping itself, it had been quite fun.

Ino and TenTen had dragged them all through at least ten shops, but the results were obvious and evident and not even Shikamaru had anything to say against their choices.

Naruto had mainly wanted black, because it was cool and would be a good choice in colour, but Ino had promptly denied him it.

Black, she had stated, was just like orange in a way; it was too visible in forests and normal natural settings, because unless hiding against charcoal, it was easily spotted. And at night even dark browns, greys and greens looked black, so there was no need to get such colour.

It was useless.

Naruto had relented, mostly because Shikamaru had agreed with Ino for once, and he had to admit it was not that bad, after all. Even Lee looked somewhat more… human (natural) with clothes that were not brightly green, spandex–looking and tight, and with his new haircut –that had been forced upon him to make him lose his bowl–head– he looked pretty decent.

As Lee and Naruto engaged a small conversation, something about Taijutsu training, ramen and determination, Shikamaru and Neji moved forwards, trying to determine whether Ino and TenTen would stop soon or not.

As they turned a corner, realising the two kunoichi had programmed their next stop at the dark haired girl's favourite weaponry shop, something pink attracted the four's attention. Ino widened her eyes as she recognized Sakura making her way towards the hospital. The pink haired kunoichi was bouncing around and waving at the people she passed by, holding something in her hands.

She was coming their way, too.

It looked like she was going to visit Sasuke again, and Ino felt a bit angry at her. Sakura needed to open her eyes.

Shikamaru and Ino shared a quick look before the blonde halted in her tracks.

Somehow all of them felt a bit protective over the whiskered shinobi, and probably meeting Sakura right now would dampen a bit his good mood. Shikamaru knew it was wrong to delay the inevitable, but at the same time…

"Ah! Naruto! How troublesome…" Shikamaru rolled his eyes and turned around, growling towards Ino. "I think I left my wallet in the last shop we visited".

"Oh? Really?" Naruto looked at him. "Wanna me to go pick it up?"

"Yeah, please, it's so troublesome for me to go back" Shikamaru slouched a bit more. "I'll give you ramen if you do".

In the blink of an eye Naruto was already running away.

Lee blinked in surprise and turned to look at Shikamaru. "But… I thought you left your wallet at home because you didn't want to have to pay for Ino–san?"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"You should probably go tell him" Neji quietly commented. He was also thinking of what reaction Lee could have if he were to see Sakura, too.

Lee blinked unsurely, but then smiled brightly at them, and started chasing Naruto down.

–**End FlashBack–**

Naruto had yet to understand why Shikamaru had made him go all the way back to the shop when he hadn't really lost his wallet, but when he and Lee had returned, the lazy teen had bought him ramen anyway, so Naruto had not protested.

So, thanks to that day, now he had a whole cupboard filled with brand new clothes.

All in all, Naruto hadn't been all that unhappy to give up his orange for something else; at first he had thought it was like throwing away a part of himself, but then he had changed opinion.

His clothes had never been _him_.

They represented the person Naruto had wanted to be, the kid in need to be recognized; he was not that kid anymore… he was a ninja, and his dreams were no distant hopes anymore. He had a better understanding on how to accomplish them, and he had backup.

Though, the moment he had admitted this loudly, after a day of shopping, Neji's eyes had turned scary… the Hyuuga had eyed him, then the bunch of orange clothes, and had asked him if he could do something for the community.

Naruto still didn't believe Neji had burned his clothes outside his house.

It had looked like Neji was having fun, too. If the omnipresent smirk during all the burning hadn't been clear enough, the Hyuuga prodigy had also cackled quite evilly at some point, drawing on him the shocked expressions of his teammates and friends.

Even Kakashi–sensei had appeared there, looking very much proud of what was going on, and had happily aided Neji by throwing the orange garments into the flames until nothing but ashes was left.

Naruto had been quite freaked out indeed.

"Naruto, are you sure Hokage–sama won't get angry at us, seeing we destroyed another training ground?" Ino bit her lip worriedly as she and Neji walked near the blond, who shook himself out of his thoughts and shrugged at them.

"Well, she'll probably vent out against me, or something, but it's ok" he flashed her a smile.

Ino had been afraid of Tsunade's mood swings since she observed the busty woman slam Jiraiya through a wall and a door with a fist, the day she had caught the sennin peeping in the Hokage tower's female bathroom.

"Ah, indeed, this is so troublesome" Shikamaru hadn't been training with them for the day, as he had been wounded during their last mission and had been asked to relax and rest for three days, but he had still looked upon his friends' training to see eventual flaws.

The lazy teen flexed his arm, knowing he would be fine from now on as he was almost completely healed already.

"Shut up, lazy ass" Ino smacked him lightly on the back of his head, receiving a groan of pain from her friend but no retaliation. "At least you're able to move your arm".

Shikamaru had to admit it could have been worse.

"Lee!" Neji called out, and the black haired Taijutsu user sped up towards them, followed by TenTen who had been busy recollecting all her weapons.

"Hai Neji?" Lee stretched his back, literally shining in happiness.

Even though he now wore normal clothes –a white shirt and a pair of _normal_ brown ninja pants with his Chuunin jacket– his attitude was far from changed. He was still pretty loud and boisterous, even though he had managed to calm himself a bit, resembling less and less Gai in his actions and words.

"Training ends here, Tsunade–sama said we're going to have a mission tomorrow" Neji looked at Naruto, then at Shikamaru. "Don't be late, we have to meet on the outskirts of Konoha at seven sharp".

Shikamaru groaned –it was not his fault if sometimes he ended up sleeping just that minute more, and ended up being somewhat late. At least he was not hours late like Naruto the first two days or so.

"Hey, I was used with Kakashi–sensei coming three hours after the meeting time, it took me a bit to realise we'd actually meet in time" the blond protested, receiving one slap on the back of his head from Ino.

"We know, Naruto" she laughed a bit.

"Well, then, until tomorrow" Naruto waved at Neji, Shikamaru and Lee, then turned to the two kunoichi as Neji spoke again.

"We will schedule the next training day when we come back" Neji spoke directly to Ino, since TenTen on her own had no problems deciding a training day. "I know you're going to start doing missions with your new team, so we will have to wait and see what your daily schedule will be, as well" .

Naruto blinked.

Had it been already a month?

Ino would start meeting with what remained of Team Seven, and that meant the month of confinement for Sasuke was concluded. The Uchiha would be released, probably he had been released already, and from the next day, he would be around Konoha again.

Naruto had to suppress a small shudder at the thought. A part of him was crying at him to screw everything and just go see him, but he knew better than just to give in.

He could not allow himself this weakness, or it would cause more pain.

He had to admit with himself that he had not realised he had been a month already since their promotion –with the training, the missions and everything else, Naruto felt like it had been a year instead of a simple month.

There had been times he had wanted to give up and return on his decision, but Neji, Shikamaru and Lee (not to mention Ino, TenTen, and the others from the Rookie 9) had been supportive on his part, not taking sides, but being there for him anyway.

He had wonderful friends, and now, even thinking at Sakura and Sasuke didn't bring that much pain anymore –a dulled out ache in his chest, but maybe he was getting stronger.

"Good luck Ino–chan!" Naruto smiled at the other blonde, who smiled back at him. "Well guys, I am going to eat ramen with Team Eight now" he cheered up a bit at the thought of his delicious food. "Kiba will be bragging about some random things, as usual".

"And you want to be there to be the one who brags more" Neji smirked at him knowingly.

Naruto's face lit up "of course!"

Even though Naruto and his team had been busy completing their missions and training with Ino and TenTen –and trying to come up with a name to go with, something that was harder than previously thought– they had also some spare time to meet up with Kiba, Shino and Hinata, the only team who had not been affected by Naruto's decisions.

All the three of them had been somewhat supportive of him though, to his delight and relief, and Kiba had actually told him he respected his decision. Nor the Inuzuka neither Shino nor Hinata thought less of him for dropping out of Team Seven.

He had yet to tell anyone the full extent of his thoughts, but they were not pressing on him to know, at least.

Surprisingly enough, he was getting better with things he had previously thought he'd never understand, like chakra control and Genjutsu. Neji had been very helpful in that department, and now Naruto could cast small Genjutsu –even though they were far too weak to work much, it was still an improvement.

Even Gai, with spandex and everything, had wanted to help the team. Since they were all Chuunin, and lacked the guardianship of a Jounin teacher like most teams, the Green Beast of Konoha had taken them under his wings, quite literally.

They were forced to join in morning jog and some of his Taijutsu training with Lee, and despite having to endure Gai and Lee's expansive attitude, Naruto was quick to admit it felt good to have so much attention on himself.

As he moved to get away from the destroyed training ground, Naruto looked over at Lee. He was changed, as well. Even though his bright attitude wasn't changed much, apart him lowering his voice a bit and acting a bit less boisterously, his appearance had greatly improved. He was not a Gai–clone anymore.

He was… Lee.

"Naruto, please! Remember –seven sharp!" Neji cried at his retreating back.

Naruto waved at them without turning.

……………………………………………

To say he was nervous would be an understatement –and a big one at that.

Normally, he'd deny it, because not even under torture he'd admit he, Uchiha Sasuke, could be nervous about something as trivial as meeting up with his team.

But he had promised himself he would change. He would try to be more open, and that he would try to be more accepting. His clouded mind had done enough mistakes, allowing him to see them.

Now, he would never randomly smile at someone –he could still retain some pride when it came to others– but he was forcing himself. Naruto needed to see he was honest with him.

That was also the reason as to why he hadn't slept the whole night, tossing and turning around; maybe he had underestimated his current problem with Naruto, but his inner conscience (he probably had to have one) apparently hadn't.

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see nothing but Naruto's pained eyes at the Valley of End, tinged of red and swirling with hurt, anger and determination. The blond's face haunted his sleep and wake, and the knowledge he would meet him in the morning hadn't helped at all.

Sasuke didn't know what to do, for the first time ever. And he was confused.

He was so used to be confident and cold, and now he had to show in some way his confusion to Naruto. To make him understand.

Somehow, he had to.

He could not stand to stay away from his friend anymore. Somehow, in a way he could not understand, he needed Naruto. They had a deeper understanding. Despite their fights, the words they used to each other, they had truly being friends.

In that twisted way that characterized Sasuke so much, Naruto was his best friend and the fact that he'd been ready to kill him showed how much he meant for him.

At five in the morning Sasuke was already up for his meeting at six, tying his pouch of kunai and shuriken in his hands as he made his way outside the compound, firmly holding the scratched hitai–ate that belonged to him in his hand.

He could not change it, not even if it was scratched, because it was part of what he had decided to let go, and it would be a reminder. He would get another one, and wear both, as a symbol of his decisions.

He was vaguely aware of the ANBU stationed on the tree in front of his house, but he paid no heed to it as he made his way through the village, knowing he would have to bear with that surveillance for the first months.

He'd probably get only D–rank missions for a while as well –Konoha could not spare an ANBU team to follow a Genin group in outside missions. But that would also mean he could see Naruto in neutral territory, and it was a good thing.

Naruto. Every step made him closer to the bridge, where he could finally see him. He still didn't know what he could say, or do, but the thing he needed now was to see Naruto, to see if he was ok.

It was worthy the twinges of pain coming from his cramped up muscles, still after a month. It was worthy his future training to get back in shape.

The first thing he saw when reaching their usual meeting spot was a familiar pink head pressed against the railing of the bridge, her eyes lost on the passing water down below. Sakura was a face he really wasn't that happy to see, since she came every single day to see him, and not even once did she voluntarily speak of the blond.

She had always managed to dismiss his questions by telling him Naruto was fine on his own and would probably be training.

Sasuke hoped she'd understand one day. If she really wanted to be friends with him, and nothing more because there was no place for her in a romantic way in him, she'd have to stop deluding herself.

"Ah –Sasuke–kun!" brilliant green eyes widened as she turned his way, probably sensing his approaching chakra.

He snorted at her, but she seemed blind to his current tension and approached him, thankfully not touching him.

At least she had some decency left in her to know he wouldn't want her to touch him.

"Good morning Sasuke–kun!" Sakura was positively bouncing around.

It was the first time in months Sasuke was out from the hospital. She was so happy, they would be together doing missions again, and since she had been at his side all month, she was the only one for him.

He would see it.

It wasn't like Ino–pig could ever compete. She hadn't visited him, not even once.

"Sasuke–kun, how are your muscles? I hope they're not cramped up, and if they are, maybe I can, I dunno, massage you" she was sparkling brightly at the suggestion, her hands itching to touch him and Sasuke recoiled, backing away instantly.

"No" he said, clearly and tonelessly.

No, she had no decency at all.

Sasuke retreated towards the outer side of the bridge, pointedly ignoring Sakura's presence in order to watch for Naruto's arrival. It was almost seven, already one hour late for their meeting, he'd soon be there for sure.

Sakura stared at him mournfully, but sighed and let it go, for now. Maybe she had to show her professionalism so he could realise she was perfect.

Glancing at the road as well, she waited for Naruto's appearance; she was feeling a tad bit guilty because after all, Sasuke's words, coupled with Ino's, had forced their way into her mind, nagging her to death.

She was not a good teammate, at least not towards the blond, and he had taken her Sasuke back. He deserved at least her gratitude, but she hadn't visited.

Sakura had decided she would greet him and smile at him (even if he'd start fawning over her, she would simply endure) and act friendly.

Both Sakura and Sasuke's eyes turned sharply to the road as someone appeared, and both recognised the familiar bright blond hair belonging to their last teammate.

Sasuke stood straighter, his heart missing a beat, and Sakura mustered up a smile.

"Naruto!" the pink haired kunoichi lifted up her hand to wave at him, but stopped in midair as she took in his appearance.

Sasuke stared at Naruto and –simply stared.

He was… changed.

Gone was his orange. The brightness of his clothes was not there anymore, his hair and eyes the only things unchanged of him.

For his new mission Naruto had chosen to wear a brown shirt with long sleeves that had two pockets on each arm –TenTen had suggested him to hide exploding tags in there, should the need arise– and Konoha's symbol was painted on the back, right above his left shoulder.

He had a normal pair of grey and brown ninja pants, with the shuriken pouch tied to one leg. His Chuunin jacket wasn't on him, as he usually forgot he had it and left it at home.

To Sakura and Sasuke's eyes, he was almost another person.

Sakura's hand fell at her side, her lips opening in shock as she took in just how _different_ he looked now. Staring at his frame, now not hidden by the orange jumper that had been far too big on him, hiding away his built, she noticed he wasn't that puffy, after all.

Was this… Naruto?

Hearing a familiar voice call him, Naruto looked up, shaking himself out from his thoughts. He was guilty, he knew it –he'd been thinking about Ino's first mission with her new team, and his thoughts had derailed towards a certain raven haired teen that had troubled him so much.

It still hurt, it seemed.

But he would have never thought he'd see him… Sasuke… this soon.

In front of him.

Real, tangible. _There_.

Sasuke was standing there, on the bridge. With Sakura, and they were both staring at him with shock clear in their eyes.

Naruto felt his heart clench considerably in his chest, his breath coming in a ragged gasp as he steadied his last faltering step.

Sasuke was there.

The bridge, shit. Naruto should have known better. Team Seven always met there. It was normal they'd be here, since they didn't know. And he hadn't realised he had to pass through there to get to the outskirts…

His lips flew open as words he didn't want to say tried to come out, words that were almost ripped from him but he swallowed them again.

"_Sasuke…"_

He closed his mouth, forcing himself not to speak. It was harder than he thought –just seeing the Uchiha made his pain return tenfold.

'_Why… why now… why here…'_

Sasuke noticed how the blue eyes darkened considerably as he saw him, and moved forwards, not speaking but needing to show Naruto he meant no harm–

Sakura didn't see Naruto's flash of pain nor his hesitation, and moving forwards she smiled at the blond again, "Hey, Naruto, you look–"

_**Poof!**_

Kakashi's sudden appearance made Sasuke stop and Sakura stumble backwards a bit, as the silver haired Jounin had apparently placed himself between them and the frozen blond.

The copycat had been lingering on a nearby tree with the ANBU as he stared at Naruto's arrival, wondering if it'd be ok to just allow him to meet with Sasuke and Sakura, but the moment he had seen Naruto's behaviour he had known it was still too soon.

Naruto was still hurting and it would be worse. Besides, Kakashi had this sudden urge to help Naruto, even if the Chuunin didn't need him.

"Yo!" Kakashi lifted his arm in his usual greeting, pointedly ignoring the displeased look on Sasuke's face.

This new protectiveness Kakashi was developing for Naruto was a bit frightening. He liked the blond and wanted to see him healthy, but he was starting to feel pretty old. Almost like an uncle of sorts. And he wasn't sure he liked it.

Sakura forgot Naruto for a second to turn towards their Jounin instructor, in need of something normal, something familiar –because the last month's happenings, Sasuke's attempted betrayal, and now Naruto's change of clothes were making her confused and nervous.

"Kakashi–sensei! You're late!" she yelled, only to stop when she realised Naruto was not yelling with her.

She blinked unsurely, feeling the last bit of confidence leave her. What was going on? Was the world turning on itself?

Kakashi ignored her as usual though, and turned towards the frozen blond, the only thing that showed his own tenseness was the tight grip on his favourite book.

"Ah, Naruto! It has been a while, has it? How are you feeling? Up for a mission already?"

Since both Naruto and Kakashi had been busy with their own missions, they had only met twice in a month.

Naruto blinked twice, the uproar inside his mind calming down at Kakashi's apparently carefree words, detecting an almost caring tone underneath.

Shaking slightly with the effort to not look back at Sasuke, who was still staring at him, almost penetrating him with his stare, he smiled at Kakashi.

"Ah, Kakashi–sensei" thankfully his voice was steady. "Yes, everything's ok" he was lying, and he knew the Copycat knew it. But it was enough.

"That's good to hear" Kakashi's visible eye turned into a half moon.

Sasuke knew something was wrong, but again, he had no time to speak, because someone else appeared on the other side of the bridge, coming out from the forest.

"Naruto–kun!" it was Lee, a very different looking Lee, but still Lee.

Sakura at first didn't even want to look at the Taijutsu user, knowing he'd suddenly jump at her to woo her, but when Lee stopped behind them and she didn't hear him speak to her, she turned around, only to let out a gasp at his new attire.

He wasn't Gai's clone anymore, and if she could trust her eyes, even his hair and eyebrows weren't the same. She was utterly speechless. Why… what…

Really, something had happened to Konoha –this was probably a Genjutsu or something, since both Naruto and Lee were dressed like any other shinobi and…

"Ah, Lee" there was so much relief in Naruto's voice that even Sasuke and Sakura were able to feel it, even though neither understood the reasons for it. "Hey!"

Next to Lee stood Neji, in all his stuck–up glory, one eyebrow lifted up, his right hand resting on his hips. And a few steps behind Shikamaru yawned.

Sasuke turned around and scowled.

Neji noticed the Uchiha's presence and his eyes turned cold, utterly glacial, his entire posture stiffening in barely contained anger. He could see the pain flashing in Naruto's eyes, and he didn't like it.

"Naruto–kun, we got a high B–rank mission today!" Lee was positively sparkling, trying not to bounce around in happiness.

Tsunade had given them from low C to low B–ranked missions, not trusting them yet to take on harder missions, since they were a newly formed team and all that stuff, but apparently she had decided to reward a month of their hard work with something dangerous.

Or possibly, she wanted to keep their pay for the high ranked mission to herself since they destroyed Training Ground Five.

Naruto momentarily forgot Sasuke's presence as he smiled, "that's so awesome!"

Sakura scoffed inwardly, mentally slapping herself as she realised she had been gawking at Lee until then.

If Lee's team was busy with such mission, Naruto would throw a fit when Kakashi handed them their D–ranked mission.

He'd have to bow and accept the fact that, for the next two months, they'd have to do only such horrible missions. Sakura felt a bit angry because it was, in a way, Sasuke's fault, but she knew better than accuse her love of these things.

Sasuke observed with a bit of anger Naruto's interaction with Neji, Lee and… Shikamaru? What was Shikamaru doing with Lee and the Hyuuga?

Where was the girl, whatever–her–name–was?

Kakashi hid his smirk behind the newest edition of 'Icha Icha Violence' and watched as the situation evolved in front of him. He was starting to have fun.

Neji cleared his throat, making Lee, Shikamaru and Naruto turn towards him. Regarding the Uchiha with a glare that could rival an iceberg for its coldness, the Hyuuga prodigy stood even straighter.

"We have to go now, we're already late" he said, narrowing his eyes.

Sasuke glared back just as hard. Neji was one of those that had followed him to take him back, despite the rivalry Hyuuga and Uchiha had, and Sasuke knew he'd done it simply out of friendship with the blond teen.

A new, sudden rush of anger hit Sasuke. He didn't want Naruto to be friends with Neji. He might have pouted, but there again, he didn't. He wouldn't back off in front of the white eyes freak.

Neji bowed respectfully towards Kakashi, then turned around (making his hair flow dramatically over his shoulder in doing so) and started to walk away, followed by Shikamaru.

Lee blinked at him and his eyes fixed unsurely on Sasuke and then on Sakura, biting his upper lip in wonder. For a moment, he looked like he'd move towards the pink haired kunoichi to speak with her, but a look at Naruto stopped him.

Sakura had caused Naruto pain. Naruto was his friend, and even if his emotions towards Sakura–chan were still raging inside of him, telling him that Sakura had not acted like this knowing it would cause Naruto pain, out of respect for his comrade and friend he decided to let it go, and not declare his undying love for Sakura this time.

Besides, he didn't want her to reject him as usual. It would feel worse this time, and Lee had the feeling it would hurt more than any other time.

He had to think it over for a bit, because these new thoughts confused him greatly… and he needed to stay focused on his mission.

Lee backed away, not daring to look at Sakura again, and with a wave followed his captain. His heart weighted painfully in his chest, but he knew he was doing the right thing.

Naruto was surprised by Lee's actions, not understanding what could have caused this turnaround, but decided not to dwell on it. Looking up at his ex–sensei's eye, he noticed he was smiling down at him with warmth, and felt like smiling back.

It felt easier when he wasn't looking at Sasuke. Even if Sasuke had never stopped looking at him (if not to glare against Neji, of course).

Sakura was still in shock for Lee's attitude and appearance, but noticing her teammate turning towards Kakashi she braced herself for the obvious tantrum he would throw about the level of their first mission.

What Naruto said shocked her again.

"Good luck sensei!"

Kakashi stepped forwards to ruffle at his hair. "I should say that, not you, Naruto!" he laughed amiably.

Neji turned smugly towards Team Seven and Naruto, making it obvious he was calling out to Naruto. "Naruto, let's go! We lost enough time as it is!"

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as Naruto started moving, passing next to him without sparing a glance at him, eyes fixed on the Byakugan user on the other side of the bridge.

Naruto quickened his pace, eyes begging to flicker on Sasuke's stunned face, his heart constricting painfully in his chest and making his eyes burn, but he didn't give in.

'_I am stronger than that'._

And he was.

With every step ripping at his insides, Naruto turned his back to Team Seven, literally, and reached for Neji, who took his arm and nodded at him, comfort flowing from his body through the brief contact they had.

Neji met Naruto's eyes, seeing the panic and the tears, and smiled at him.

"_Everything is ok"_ he mouthed.

Naruto shakily smiled back.

It wasn't. but it would surely be. This felt like shredding the last thread connecting him to _them_.

Sakura and Sasuke never saw the haunted eyes of Naruto, fighting against tears (without even knowing why he should cry in the first place) as he walked away, quickly surrounded by Shikamaru, Lee and Neji.

Sakura felt her head spin in confusion, her legs strangely faint. Naruto was…

Was Naruto walking away from them?

Sasuke felt fear grip tightly around his heart, for every step Naruto took away from him. The blond wasn't turning back.

'_Naruto…'_ Sasuke's voice was gone, he found himself unable to speak. His lips opening and closing without words coming out. _'Naruto, please… turn around…'_

He wasn't turning around.

Disappearing in the forest without… without even…

'_Naruto…'_

Never looking back…

Footsteps caught Sakura's attention as she twirled around, meeting the sight of another blonde staring at them with determination.

Her bluish eyes, so similar and yet so different in colour and tone from Naruto's, held a darker hue, as she had observed what had happened from her spot behind a tree, but her face was carefully clean of emotions.

Clear blonde hair swinging in a tall ponytail above her head.

Sakura gasped.

Sasuke had long since stopped caring, his eyes still fixed on the spot Naruto had vanished into. At least until Kakashi spoke.

"Well, then" Kakashi's voice felt tired. "Let me officially announce you Naruto's substitute in Team Seven –say hello to Ino".

Sasuke's head snapped back at them.

_What the hell…?!_

……………………………………………

**StarsOfYaoi** for those who like ItaNaru, read my other fic and drop me a review! I really enjoy them…

Drop a review for this one, too… it's easy, so please, make me happy…


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